REPORT 


OF  THB 


IRISH   WHITE   CROSS 


TO 


31st    august.     1922 


REPORT 


OF  THE 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS 


TO 


3 1  ST  AUGUST,    1922. 


This  Report  has  been  prepared  by  Mr. 

W.  J.  Williams,  M.A.,  for  the  Managing 

Committee  of  the  Irish  White  Cross. 


Examples  of  the  destruction  which 
the  Irish  White  Cross  was 
founded  to  relieve. 


c. 


Photo  by] 


\IIogaii,  Dublin. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Lists  of  Members  and  of  Officers  of  Irish  White  Cross  Society 
and  of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland 1 

Section       I. — (a)   Income  and  Expenditure  Account  of  the  Irish 
White  Cross  Society   from  its  inception  to 

August  31st,  1922 13 

(fr)  Income  and  Expenditure  Account  of  Recon- 
struction Commission  for  same  period 15 

Section     II. — Origin  and  Personnel  of  Irish  White  Cross 16 

Section    III. — American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland 18 

Section    IV. — Nature  and  Extent  of  the  Distress  in  Ireland 22 

Section      V. — Policy  and  Method  adopted  in  affording  Relief 31 

Section    VI. — Checks  on  the  Expenditure  of  Funds  for  Relief 46 

Section  VII. — Tributes  to  the  Work  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  and 

of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland.     49 

Appendices : 

A.  Appeals  for  Funds  issued  by  the  Irish  White  Cross  and 

by  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland. ...     74 

B.  Report  to  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland 

by  the  Delegates  who  visited  the  Country  in  the  Spring 
of  1921  77 

C.  Letter  from  the  Irish  Delegation  of  Plenipotentiaries  to 

the  Representatives  of  the  American  Committee  for 
Relief  in  Ireland  on  the  conclusion  of  their  visit  in  the 
Autumn  of  1921 84 

D.  Geographical  Distribution  of  Personal  Relief  to  the  31st 

August,    1922   86 

E.  Reconstruction  Commission. — Amounts  sanctioned  to  31st 

August,    1922    101 

F.  Committee  for  Maintenance  of  Orphans 102 


IRISH     WHITE     CROSS. 


Pr€siclcTit ; 
HIS  EMINENCE  MICHAEL  CARDINAL  LOGUE. 

Chairman : 

THE  RIGHT   HONOURABLE  ALDERMAN   L.   O'NEILL, 

LORD  MAYOR  OF  DUBLIN. 

Trustees  : 
His  Grace,  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Walsh,  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 
The  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin. 
The  late  Presidet  Arthur  James  G.  Douglas. 

Griffith,  T.D.  George  Russell. 

The  late  General  Michael         Mrs.  Mary  Alden  Childers. 

Collins,  T.D.  Joseph  T.  Wigham,  M.D. 

Thomas  Johnson,  T.D. 

Chairman  of  Standing  Executive  Committee — L.  Smith-Gordon. 
Honorary  Treasurer — James  G.  Douglas. 
Honorary  Secretary — James  MacNeill. 

STANDING  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE: 

The  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Mayor  J.  H.  Webb,  F.R.I.A.I. 

of  Dublin.  L.  Smith-Gordon. 

Alderman  J.  MacDonagh,  T.D.  R.  A.  Anderson. 

President  W.  Cosgrave,  T.D.  Thomas  Foran. 

Captain  Henry  Harrison,  O.B.E.,  Thomas  Farren. 

M.C.  Thomas  Johnson,  T.D. 

R.  Erskine  Childers.  Alderman  William  O'Brien,  T.D. 

James  G.  Douglas.  Mrs.  Sheehy-Skeffington. 

Professor  E.  P.  Culverwell,  Madam  O'Rahilly. 

S.F.T.C.D.  Alderman  Mrs.  Clarke. 

Miss  E.  M.  Cunningham,  M.A.  Madame  Gonne-MacBride. 

John  O'Neill.  Mrs.  T.  M.  Kettle. 

James  MacNeill.  Miss  J.  Wigham. 

Sean  MacCaoilte.  Darrell  Figgis,  T.D. 

Director   of   Organisation — Henry    Kennedy,  M.A.,  D.Sc. 
Acting  Secretary — ^Captain  D,  L.  Robinson,  D.S.O. 

MANAGING  COMMITTEE: 
The  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Mayor     Thomas  Johnson,  T.D. 

of  Dublin.  R.  A.  Anderson. 

James  MacNeill.  Madam  O'Rahilly. 

James  G.  Douglas. 

1 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


GENERAL  COUNCIL; 


M. 
of 


His  Grace,  The  Most  Rev.  J. 
Harty,  D.D.,  Archbishop 
Cashel. 

His  Grace,  The  Most  Rev.  T.  P. 
Gilmartin,  D.D.,  Archbishop  of 
Tuam. 

The  Most  Rev.  The  Hon.  B.  J. 
Plunket,  D.D,,  Bishop  of 
Meath. 

The  Right  Rev.  T.  Sterling  Berry, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  Killaloe. 

Rev.  Dr.  I.  Herzog,  M.A.,  D.Litt., 
Chief  Rabbi. 

The  Right  Hon.  The  Lord  Mont- 
eagle,  K.P. 

The  Right  Hon.  The  Lord  Mayor 
of  Cork. 

His  Worship  The  Mayor  of  Kil- 
kenny. 

His  Worship  The  Mayor  of 
Derry. 

His  Worship  The  Mayor  of  Drog- 
heda. 

His  Worship  The  Mayor  of  Clon- 
mel. 

His  Worship  The  Mayor  of 
Water  ford. 

His  Worship  The  Mayor  of  Wex- 
ford. 

His  Worship  The  Mayor  of  Sligo. 

Sean  MacEntee,  T.D. 

Aldernmn  Liam  de  Roiste,  T.D. 

Brian  O'Higgins,  T.D. 

J.  Crowley,  L.R.C.P  &  S.L,  T.D. 

J.  Lennon,  T.D. 

J.  J.  O'Kelly,  T.D. 

William  O'Brien. 

Colonel  Maurice  Moore,  C.B. 

Sir  Horace  Plunket,  P.C, 
K.C.V.O. 

Miss  Mary  Hayden,  M.A. 

Mrs.  Margaret  MacGarry. 

Miss  Dorothy  Macardle. 

Mrs.  Sydney  Ball. 

Miss  Kathleen  Lynn,  M.B. 
Together   with   all   the 

Executive  Committee. 


Sir  John  O'Connell,  M.A.,  LL.D. 
Joseph  O'Carroll,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P.L 
Professor  R.  M.  Henry,  M.A. 
J.  Boyd-Barrett,  M.B. 
J.  P.  MacEnri,  M.A.,  M.D. 
Rev.  W.  Crawford,  M.A. 
Michael  Governey. 
J.  Harbison,  M.P. 
Alderman  John  Harkin. 
Miss  E.  O'Connor,  P.L.G. 
Samuel  Graveson. 
John  Sweetman. 

Darrell  Figgis,  T.D.  • 

J.  M.  Flood,  B.L. 
John  Geoghegan. 
J.  C.  Dowdall. 
Professor  O'Rahilly,  M.A. 
Edward  MacLysaght. 
D.  MacCullagh. 
C.  M.  O'Brien,  M.D. 
J.  MacArdle,  L.R.C.S.L 
H.  T.  Bewley,  M.B. 
J.  J.  Nagle. 
H.  C.  Neill-Watson. 
J.  T.  O'Farrell. 
T.  C.  Daly. 
Denis  Cullen. 
L.  J.  Duffy. 
Sean  MacCaoilte. 
The  Hon.  Albinia  Brodrick. 
Mrs,  Ceannt. 
Miss  Nellie  O'Brien. 
The  Hon.  Mary  Spring-Rice. 
Miss  Barton. 
Miss  Comerford. 
Mrs.  Stopford  Green. 
Mrs.  Connery. 
Miss  Rose  Timmon. 
Miss  Whitty. 
Mrs.  Despard. 
P.  Finegan. 
J.  Gullery. 
J.  MacVeagh,  M.P. 
Mrs.  L.  M.  Vanston. 
Miss  Angela  Boland. 
Officers   and   Members  of   the    Standing 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  3 

American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE: 

Chairman — Hon.  Morgan  J.  O'Brien. 
Treasurer — John  J.  Pulleyn. 
Assistant  Treasurer — Edward  J.  McPike. 
Secretary — Richard  Campbell. 
Assistant  Secretary — James  A.  Healy. 


Thomas  F.  Ryan. 
Nicholas  F.  Brady. 
John  D.  Ryan. 
Hon.  Thos.  J.  Walsh. 
Edward  L,  Doheny. 
James  J.  Phelan. 
James  A.  Flaherty. 
Joseph  C.  Pelletier. 
Hon.  David  J.  Walsh. 


Lawrence  Godkin. 

John  Quinn. 

Hon.  James  D.  Phelan. 

Martin  J.  Gillen. 

Thos.  J.  Maloney. 

J.  W.  McConaughy 

William  P.  Larkin. 

L.  Hollingsworth  Wood. 

Rt.  Rev.  M.  J.  Gallagher,  D.D. 


NATIONAL  COUNCIL: 


Chairman — Hon.  Morgan  J.  O'Brien. 
Honorary  Vice-Chairmen  : 


Bernard  M.  Baruch. 
Hon.  a.  J.  Beveridge. 
Hon.  John  J.  Blaine, 

Governor  of  Wisconsin. 
George  B.  Cortelyou. 
General  Chas.  G.  Dawes. 
Hon.  D,  W.  Davis,  Governor  of 

Idaho. 
Josephus  Daniels. 
Hon.  J.  M.  Dixon,  Governor  of 

Montana. 
Hon.  H.  L.  Davis,  Governor  of 

Ohio. 
Hon.  Westmoreland  Davis, 

Governor  of  Virginia. 


Hon.  Edward  I.  Edwards, 

Governor  of  New  Jersey. 
PIaley  Fiske. 
Hon.  L.   J.    Frazier,   Governor 

of  North  Dakota. 
Hon.  a.  J.  Groesbeck,  Governor 

of  Michigan. 
Wm.  R.  Hearst. 
Hon.  a.  M.  Hyde,  Governor  of 

Missouri. 
W.  Cardinal  O'Connell. 
Hon.  J.  Hartness,  Governor  of 

Vermont. 
Chas.  H.  Ingersoll. 
David  Starr  Jordan. 


4  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

Franklin  K.  Lane.  Hon.  O.  H.  Shoup,  Governor  of 

Henry  Morgenthau.  Colorado. 

Hon.  E.  p.  Morrow,  Governor    Henry  Watterson. 

of  Kentucky.  Hon.  E.  J.  San  Souci,  Governor  of 

Wm.  G.  McAdoo.  ,  Rhode  Island. 

Medill  McCormick.  Hon.  A.  O.  Brown,  Governor  of 

Elisabeth  Marbury.  New  Hampshire. 

Jane  Addams.  Samuel  Gompers. 

Chas.  Nagel.  Hon.  T.  E.  Campbell,  Governor  of 

Hon.  J.  A.  O.  Preus,  Governor        Arizona. 

of  Minnesota.  Hon.  Chas.  R.   Mabey,  Governor 

Hon.  Lee  M.  Russell,  Governor        of  Utah. 

of  Mississippi. 
Nathan  Barnert,  Paterson,  New  Jersey. 
Frank  J.  Barry,  Nogales,  Arizona. 
Nicholas  F.  Brady,  New  York  City. 
William  P.  Breen,  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana. 
W.  H.  Brophy,  Los  Angeles,  California. 
James  Butler,  New  York  City. 
Pierce  Butler,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 
James  A.  Broderick,  Manchester,  New  Hampshire. 
P.  H.  Callahan,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
Rt.  Rev.  John  J.  Cantwell,  D.D.,  Los  Angeles,  California. 
Hon.  Richard  Campbell,  New  York. 
Peter  J.  Carey,  Montclair,  New  Jersey. 
Edward  F.  Carey,  Chicago,  Illinois. 
David  J.  Champion,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Most  Rev.  Alexander  Christie,  D.D.,  Portland,  Oregon. 
George  M.  Cohan,  New  York  City. 
Barron  G.  Collier,  New  York  City. 
Martin  Conboy,  New  York  City. 
Patrick  Crowe,  Denver,  Colorado. 
D.  J.  Conway,  Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota. 
Joseph  F.  Connolly,  Portland,  Maine. 
Patrick  Carter,  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Cornelius  J.  Corcoran,  Lawrence,  Massachusetts. 
John  O'Hara  Cosgrave,  New  York  City. 
Richmond  Dean,  Chicago,  Ilinois. 
James  E.  Deery,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 
George  C.  Dempsey,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Charles  S.  Derham,  San  Francisco,  California. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  5 

E.  L.  Doheny,  Los  Angeles,  California. 

E.  L.  Doheny,  Jr.,  New  York  City. 

Daniel  F.  Doherty,  Springfield,  Massachusetts. 

T.  J.  Donoghue,  Houston,  Texas. 

Alfred  W.  Donovan,  Rockland,  Massachusetts. 

Michael  F.  Dooley,  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

Edward  J.  Dooner,  Philadelphia,   Pennsylvania. 

Most  Rev.  Dennis  J.  Dougherty,  D.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Most  Rev.  Austin  Dowling,  D.D.,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 

Peter  A.  Drury,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Thomas  W.  Dwyer,  Wakefield,  Massachusetts. 

David  M.  Finnegan,  Yankton,  South  Dakota. 

David  E.  Fitzgerald,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 

F.  J.  Fitzgibbon,  Oswego,  New  York. 

H.  A.  Flaherty,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

J.  Rogers,  Flannery,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

Hugh  Gallagher,  Montgomery,  Alabama. 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  J.  Gallagher,  D.D.,  Detroit,  Michigan. 

Thomas  F.  Garvan,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

His  Eminence  James  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

Martin  J.  Gillen,  New  York  City. 

Most  Rev.  John  Joseph  Glennon,  D.D,,  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Martin  H.  Glynn,  Albany,  New  York. 

Lawrence  Godkin,  New  York  City. 

Thomas  J.  Guthrie,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Byrne  Hackett,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 

Most  Rev.  Edward  J.  Hanna,  D.D.,  San  Francisco,  Caifornia. 

William  F.  Harrington,  Manchester,  New  Hampshire. 

Most  Rev.  Patrick  J.  Hayes,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

D.  J.  Healy,  Detroit,  Michigan. 

John  E.  Healy,  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

John  C.  Heyer,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

James  H.  Higgins,  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

Edward  Hines,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

John  W.  Hogan,  Albany,  New  York. 

John   Hughes,  New  York  City. 

Edward  N,  Hurley,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Patrick  Hurley,  Tulsa,  Oklahoma. 

John  B.  Jones,  Pensacola,  Florida. 


6  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

Most  Rev.  James  J.  Keane,  D.D.,  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

Thomas  A.  Kearns,  Jr.,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

Daniel  Kelleher,  Seattle,  Washington. 

D.  F.  Kelly,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Louis  Kenedy,  Stamford,  Connecticut. 

Daniel  J.  Kenefick,  Buffalo,  New  York. 

W.  P.  Kenney,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 

Martin  J.  Keogh,  New  Rochelle,  New  York. 

William  P.  Larkin,  New  York  City. 

P.  E.  Laughlin,  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

John  S.  Leahy,  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

John  J.  Linehan,  Worcester,  Massachusetts. 

John  F.  Lucey,  New  York  City. 

Dr.  George  B.  McClellan,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

J.  W.  McConaughy,  New  York  City. 

Robert  E.  McDonnell,  New  York  City. 

Peter  J.  McDonough,  South  Plainfield,  New  Jersey. 

John  B.  McGauran,  Denver,  Colorado. 

Joseph  B.  McGowan,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Joseph  T.  McSweeney,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

John  J.  MacDonad,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Michael  Magiff,  St.  Albans,  Vermont. 

Martin  Maloney,  Belmar,  New  Jersey. 

Thomas  J.  Maloney,  New  York  City. 

Martin  T.  Manton,  New  York  City. 

John  H,  Markham,  Jr.,  Tulsa,  Oklahoma. 

Peter  W.  Meldrim,  Savannah,  Georgia. 

John  E.  Milholland,  New  York  City. 

James  F.  Minturn,  Hoboken,  New  Jersey. 

Thomas  M.  Monaghan,  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

J.  K.  Mullen,  Denver,  Colorado. 

Most  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Mundelein,  D.D.,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

M.  J.  Murphy,  Detroit,  Michigan. 

Dr.  Charles  P.  Neill,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Morgan  J.  O'Brien,  New  York  City. 

Thomas  D.  O'Brien,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 

His  Eminence  William  Cardinal  O'Connell,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

John  A.  O'Dwyer,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

John  G.  O'Keefe,  New  York  City. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

John  W.  O'Neill,  Birmingham,  Alabama. 

Joseph  H.  O'Neill,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

P.  H.  O'Neill,  Los  Angeles,  California. 

M.  J.  Owens,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

James  D.  Phelan,  U.  S.  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C. 

James  J.  Phelan,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

William  Pigott,  Seattle,  Washington. 

John  J.  Pulleyn,  New  York  City. 

P.  J.  Quealy,  North  Kemmerer,  Wyoming. 

John  Quinn,  New  York  City. 

James  Reeves,  New  York  City. 

John  B.  Reilly,  Miami,  Florida. 

Peter  C.  Reilly,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Timothy  Riordan.  Flagstaff,  Arizona. 

James  J.  Ryan,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

John  D.  Ryan,  New  York  City. 

Thomas  F.  Ryan,  New  York  City. 

Joseph  Scott,  Los  Angeles,  California. 

Most  Rev.  John  W.  Shaw,  D.D.,  New  Orleans,  Louisiana. 

Alfred  E.  Smith,  New  York  City. 

Dr.  Andrew  G.  Smith,  Portland,  Oregon. 

Thomas  J.  Spellacy,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

J.  B.  Sullivan,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

J.  J.  Sullivan,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

George  Sweeney,  Detroit,  Michigan. 

Richard  Tobin,  San  Francisco,  California. 

Thomas  J.  Tyne,  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Festus  J.  Wade,  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

David  I.  Walsh,  U.  S.  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C. 

J.  T.  Walsh,  Memphis,  Tennessee 

Maurice  Walsh,  St.  Allans,  Vermont. 

Thomas  F.  Walsh,  Akron,  Ohio. 

Thomas  J.  Walsh,  U.  S.  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C. 

John  R.  Welch,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Charles  A.  Whelan,  New  York  City. 

L.  Hollingsworth  Wood,  New  York  City. 


8  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

Since  the  Irish  White  Cross  was  organised  it  has  lost  three  of  its 
most  distinguished  members  in  the  persons  of  the  Most  Rev.  W.  J. 
Walsh,  Archbishop  of  Dublin;  President  Arthur  Griffith,  and 
General  Michael  Collins.  Appreciations  of  each  have  been  w^ritten 
for  this  Report  by  three  gentlemen  who  know  them  intimately,  both 
as  Irish  patriots  and  as  active  participants  in  the  Society's  great 
work  of  national  aid  and  reconstruction. 


HIS  GRACE  MOST  REV.  DR.  WALSH. 

The  Association,  which  has  suffered  the  loss  of  youthful 
strength  in  Michael  Collins  and  of  mature  courage  in  Arthur 
Griffith,  was  also  deprived  of  the  aid  which  it  drew  from  ripe, 
yet  energetic  wisdom  and  experience,  based  on  a  long  life- 
time of  public  leadership  and  service,  when  death  in  the 
fulness  of  years  took  from  its  roll  the  honoured  name  of  the 
Most  Rev.  William  J.  Walsh,  Archbishop  of  Dublin.  Dr. 
Walsh  entered  Irish  public  life  over  forty  years  ago,  when,  he 
advocated  a  scheme  of  agrarian  reform  of  an  essentially  con- 
structive nature,  directed  to  secure  the  land  of  their  fathers  for 
a  people  who,  till  then,  were  essentially  but  tenants-at-will. 
His  versatile  mind,  pre-eminently  active  and  far-seeing,  was 
exercised  not  only  on  philosophy  and  theology,  but  also,  in 
conspicuous  ways,  through  economics,  education,  and  the 
nobler  problems  of  political  action.  The  closing  years  of  his 
long  and  distinguished  career  saw  a  display  of  energy,  by  pub- 
lic letters  and  personal  influence,  that  won  for  his  name  and 
exalted  position  a  great  measure  of  public  attention,  abroad 
even  more  than  at  home.  In  America  and  elsewhere  his  estab- 
lished capacity  and  prestige  were  of  far-reaching  value  to  the 
White  Cross  Association;  and  on  more  than  one  important 
^occasion  his  advice  and  assistance  proved  themselves  of  high 
usefulness  at  home  in  Ireland.  The  whole  mass  of  the  people 
were  greatly  drawn  into  union  with  and  reliance  on  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin  during  the  eventful  changes  which  followed 
the  close  of  the  European  struggle ;  and  while  his  active  aid  in 
the  work  of  the  Society  was  especially  evoked  by  the  needs 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


of  more  than  one  stricken  area  in  his  own  diocese,  his  pen  and 
influence  extended  their  sway  over  the  whole  of  the  problems 
which  the  White  Cross  Association  was  called  on  to  solve. 

T.  C. 


PRESIDENT  GRIFFITH. 

The  praise  of  great  men  is  the  supreme  justification  of  our 
common  human  nature,  and  particularly  is  this  true  in  the  case 
of  Arthur  Griffith.  For  he  was  not  only  great,  he  was  in  many 
remarkable  respects  exceptional;  and  he  was  not  only  excep- 
tional, but  all  his  life  he  stood  singularly  separate  and  alone ; 
yet  his  attitude  of  mind  and  life  was  always  that  of  a  servant 
of  the  people  of  Ireland;  and  with  him,  with  all  his  stubborn 
and  undefeatable  purpose,  the  wish  of  the  common  people  was 
always  the  arbiter  in  all  issues. 

I  believe  that  history  will  find  that  Arthur  Griffith  was 
not  only  the  greatest  man  of  his  time  and  generation,  but 
that  he  will  rank  with  the  handful  of  national  leaders  who 
were  also  creators,  men  who  changed  the  entire  thought  of 
the  people  from  one  direction  to  another,  and  thus  gave 
Ireland  new  life  from  a  new  idea:  Charles  Stewart  Parnell, 
Thomas  Davis,  the  earlier  Dan  O'Connell,  Wolfe  Tone,  Hugh 
O'Neill,  Brian  Borumha,  Cormac  Mac  Airt:  all  men  of  a 
clear  philosophy  and  intellectual  outlook.  And,  so  far  as 
one  man  may  speak  of  another,  I  am  sure  he  was  always 
conscious  of  this,  and  never  ultimately  doubted  (despite  the 
dark  hours  in  every  man's  soul,  in  some  of  which  I  saw  him) 
the  family  into  which  he  was  born.  I  do  not  think  this  merely 
because  of  his  positive  manner,  because  very  often  a  positive 
manner  is  born  of  doubt  and  hesitancy,  but  because  of  his 
great  courage,  because  of  his  tenacity  and  strength  of  will. 

Yet  he  was  a  sensitive,  shy  man,  who  wore  a  manner  of 
apparent  coldness  like  a  protecting  armour.  And  I  do  not 
know  where  one  may  find  in  any  man  so  complete  a  disregard 
of  self.  I  remember  one  night,  when  I  was  lodging  with  him, 
we  sat  till  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  while  he  told  me 
the  causes  that  had  led  him  to  certain  actions  of  the  past. 


10  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

and  to  unfold  his  plans  for  the  future.  It  was  when  we  had 
returned  from  Reading  Jail,  and  when  all  Ireland  was  looking 
to  him  to  assume  leadership.  I  had  myself  urged  this  upon 
him,  and  he  discussed  the  question  of  leadership  simply  and 
quietly,  putting  himself  out  of  the  question  firmly,  frankly 
stating  why  he  judged  himself  unsuited,  and  saying  that  he 
considered  it  his  task  and  duty  to  find  a  leader,  whom  he 
would  serve  as  his  right-hand  man,  putting  at  his  disposal  all 
the  fruits  of  his  experience  and  observation.  Never  once 
did  he  ask  anything  for  himself,  or  even  so  much  as  let  such 
a  thought  cross  the  threshold  of  his  mind.  Yet,  behind  it 
all,  the  stubborn  man  of  conviction  was  there;  for,  though 
he  did  not  say  or  suggest  it,  one  felt  that  the  right-hand  man, 
however  patient  and  self-forgetting,  would  never  permit  his 
leader,  when  found,  to  lead  the  people  in  wrong  paths.  He 
was  content  that  his  judgment  should  be  made  a  service 
for  which  he  should  receive  no  recognition,  but  he  was  ready 
also,  if  necessary,  to  give  it  with  intractable  authority. 

The  truth  was  that  he  regarded  himself  as  a  man  with  a 
trust,  a  servant  of  the  people  of  Ireland.  He  was  the  most 
loyal  man  it  was  possible  to  meet — loyal  to  fault  as  a  friend, 
with  whom  loyalty  in  answer  was  a  simple  responsibility — 
loyal  as  a  servant  of  the  people,  whose  will  to  him  was  an 
iron  necessity,  even  though  he  firmly  disagreed  with  it.  His 
life  as  journalist  and  propagandist  was  an  eflfort  to  convince 
them,  never  to  dictate  to  them.  When  he  was  oflfered 
profitable  employment  abroad  as  a  journalist,  he  did  not, 
as  other  men  would  do,  and  have  done,  weigh  the  offer.  It 
was  simply  treated  as  an  irrelevance  while  he  went  on  with 
his  work.  When  he  found  himself  in  a  minority  (and  the 
greater  part  of  his  public  life  was  spent  in  what  appeared 
to  be  a  hopeless  minority),  it  did  not  occur  to  him  to  brow- 
beat the  people.  He  went  on  with  his  work  of  conviction, 
content  always  to  accept  their  decision  for  the  time  being. 
And  he  did  these  things  as  part  of  a  clear  and  reasoned 
national  philosophy,  which  in  rare  moods  and  in  chosen  com- 
pany he  was  prepared  to  expound  and  justify. 

Ireland  has  never  been     served  more  faithfully.     Those 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  11 

who  knew  and  loved  him  (whom  to  know  truly  was  to  love 
with  no  ordinary  love)  have  lost  what  can  never  be  replaced. 
No  man  can  be  loved  who  is  not  himself  a  good  lover;  and 
great  was  his  capacity  for  love.  And  perhaps  it  was  because 
he  was  so  true  a  servant  and  so  stalwart  a  lover  that  he,  of 
all  leaders  in  Ireland,  was  permitted  to  bring  in  the  harvest 
which  he  had  sown,  and  was  not  permitted  to  wait  till  the 
sheaves  were  threshed,  for  in  harvest-home  there  is  joy,  but  in 
threshing  there  is  often  disappointment. 

He  has  left  behind  him  a  fame  that  will  increase  with  time, 
a  memory  to  be  cherished  as  of  great  price,  and  an  example 
that  may,  indeed,  stand  above  our  camp  both  as  pillar  and 
beacon. 

DARRELL  FIGGIS. 


GENERAL  MICHAEL  COLLINS. 

"Michael  Collins  is  one  of  the  most  humane  men  I  have 
ever  met,"  said  a  member  of  the  Organisation  Committee  of 
the  White  Cross  during  a  discussion  on  the  wisdom  of  having 
a  man  so  objectionable  to  the  British  on  our  list  of  Trustees. 
Tlie  speaker,  then  an  admirer,  afterwards  became  a  strong 
political  opponent  of  General  Collins,  but  the  truth  uttered 
did  not  change  with  Irish  politics,  and  thousands  of  humble 
persons  will  prefer  to  remember  Mick  Collins  for  his  big  kind 
heart  rather  even  than  for  his  finest  deeds  of  heroism  or  acts 
of  statesmanship. 

Mr.  Collins  was  Trustee  of  the  White  Cross  from  the 
commencement,  and  always  took  a  keen  interest  in  its  wel- 
fare. Even  at  the  time  of  the  Terror,  when  there  was  a  price 
on  his  head,  he  kept  himself  informed  of  the  details  of 
organisation,  etc.,  of  the  relief  work,  and  on  several  occasions 
made  valuable  suggestions  for  improvements.  After  the 
Truce  he  was  able  to  take  an  open  and  active  part  in  the 
work  of  relief,  and  much  of  the  work,  especially  that  of  the 
Reconstruction  Commission,  is  due  to  his  initiative.  When 
the  White  Cross  was  formed,  his  name  as  Trustee  was  used 


12  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

to  sugget  that  the  work  would  'he  party  in  character,  and 
that  only  Sinn  Fein  adherents  would  obtain  relief.  I  am 
glad  of  this  opportunity  to  state  that  this  was  directly 
contrary  to  the  facts,  and,  both  before  and  after  the  Truce, 
no  Trustee  was  more  jealous  of  the  truly  non-party  character 
of  relief  than  Michael  Collins.  When  we  were  criticised  by 
persons  actuated  more  by  patriotism  than  by  wisdom,  because 
we  gave  assistance  to  the  families  of  spies,  Mr.  Collins  at  once 
defended  us  and  assured  us  of  the  supp'Ort  of  the  army  chiefs. 
Michael  Collins  felt  keenly  the  extent  to  which  the  people, 
especially  women  and  children,  had  to  suffer  as  a  result  of 
the  struggle,  and  he  was  continuously  thinking  of  ways  of 
alleviating  distress.  He  seemed  to  feel  a  kind  of  personal 
responsibility  for  it.  I  met  him  to  discuss  plans  just  after 
his  first  visit  to  the  country  after  the  Truce,  and  I  well 
remember  the  tears  in  his  eyes  as  he  spoke  of  details  of  suffer- 
ing in  the  country  towns.  He  at  once  proposed  a  scheme  of 
loans  for  the  repair  of  roofs  and  farmhouses,  and  suggested 
an  immediate  cable  to  U.  S.  A.  for  more  funds.  Busy 
man  though  he  was,  he  insisted  on  interesting  himself 
in  individual  cases  of  need,  and  this  continued  right  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death  No  case  was  too  insignificant  for  his 
attention,  and  once  he  became  interested  in  a  case  he  never 
forgot  it  until  satisfied  the  need  had  been  met.  I  have  rarely 
met  a  man  who  made  you  love  and  respect  him,  almost  whether 
you  wanted  to  or  not,  like  Michael  Collins — his  enthusiasm 
and  energy  were  contagious — you  felt  you  wanted  to  work 
for  Ireland,  and  in  the  way  he  wanted  you  to  work. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  write  of  General  Michael  Collins, 

the  soldier — or   of    Chairman   Collins  the   minister or   of 

Plenipotentiary  Collins  the  Peace  Delegate — and  I  have 
written  of  him  just  as  I  knew  him  in  White  Cross  work — as 
a  man  with  sound  judgment  and  with  a  great  big  heart,  who 
loved  Ireland  passionately,  and  to  whom  Ireland  meant  the 
Irish  people — all  the  people.  North,  South,  or  Centre. 

JAMES  G.  DOUGLAS. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


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16  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

IRISH  WHITE   CROSS   REPORT. 


SECTION  II. 

ORIGIN  AND  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS. 

The  Irish  White  Cross  Society  was  organised  to  cope  with 
the  distress  and  destitution  resulting  in  Ireland  from  the  war  caused 
by  the  determination  of  the  Irish  people  to  assert  their  right  to 
nationhood.  This  war  in  its  intensified  form  began  about  the 
middle  of  1920,  and  by  the  close  of  that  year  its  consequences  in 
human  suffering  for  the  Irish  people  were  on  a  scale  so  large  that 
relief  work  transcended  altogether  the  efforts  of  private  charity. 
It  early  became  apparent  that  a  central  organisation  was  called  for 
to  combine  and  systematize  private  efforts,  and  so  to  extend  their 
sphere  and  efficacy.  Towards  the  end  of  1920  a  body  of  men  and 
women  came  together,  on  the  invitation  of,  and  under  the  chair- 
manship of,  the  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin,  to  con- 
sider how  it  was  possible  to  alleviate  the  great  amount  of  suffer- 
ing that,  even  at  that  date,  had  resulted  from  the  Irish  conflict. 
These  men  and  women  were  representative  of  practically  every 
section  of  the  political  and  religious  beliefs  of  the  Irish  commun- 
ity— except,  indeed,  of  the  Orange  and  Unionist  parties  of  the 
North-East  corner.  They  were  actuated  solely  by  humanitarian 
motives,  for  they  were  convinced  that  the  relief  of  human  suffer- 
ing was  a  moral  duty  binding  on  every  citizen,  irrespective  of 
political  or  religious  creed.  In  Ireland,  owing  to  the  special  cir- 
cumstances of  her  history,  the  lines  of  social,  political,  and  re- 
ligious cleavage  cut  more  deeply  than  in  other  countries,  and,  as  a 
rule,  the  resulting  animosities  render  difficult  co-operation  for 
national  purposes.  In  the  case  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  this 
diffiiculty  never  made  itself  felt.  From  the  first  its  members  de- 
voted themselves  to  their  humanitarian  work,  unhampered  by 
their  private  views  on  the  issue  in  the  Irish  conflict.  As  private 
citizens  they  differed  fundamentally  on  that  issue ;  in  their  corp- 
orate capacity  their  sole  function  was  to  work  for  the  relief  of 
their  suffering  fellow-countrymen.     That  they  have  succeeded  in 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  17 

their  task  is  proved  'by  the  fact  that,  widely  as  they  differed  among 
themselves  on  public  matters,  not  one  of  them  resigned  from  the 
Society,  while  no  complaint  was  ever  made  by  any  of  them,  that 
the  work  of  the  organization  had  ever  been  deflected  in  any  respect 
from  the  purely  charitable  line  laid  down  for  it  at  the  time  of  its 
foundation. 

The  names  of  the  Officers  of  the  Society,  of  the  Trustees,  of 
the  Members  of  the  Standing  Executive,  of  the  General  Council, 
and  of  the  Managing  Committee  are  given  at  the  beginning  of 
this  report.  The  President  of  the  Society  was  His  Eminence,  Car- 
dinal Logue,  Archbishop  of  Armagh  and  Primate  of  all  Ireland. 
On  the  General  Council  there  were  two  Catholic  Archbishops ;  two 
Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  Ireland ;  the  Chief  Rabbi  of 
the  Jewish  community  of  Dublin;  an  ex-President  of  the  Irish 
Methodist  Conference;  leading  Dublin  members  of  the  Religious 
Society  of  Friends;  the  Lord  Mayors  and  Mayors  of  nine  Irish 
cities  and  towns ;  several  members  of  Dail  Eireann ;  representa- 
tives of  organised  labour;  a  member  of  the  British  House  of  Lords, 
and  many  prominent  figures  in  the  professional  and  commercial 
life  of  Ireland.  From  the  beginning  the  Chairman  of  the  Coun- 
cil was  the  Right  Hon.  L.  O'Neill,  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin,  whose 
position  brought  him  into  close  touch  with  the  events  that  made 
the  Society  necessary.  Thus,  the  organisation  was  thoroughly 
representative  of  all  that  is  best  and  most  characteritic  in  the  life 
of  Ireland. 

At  the  time  the  Society  was  founded  the  terrorist  policy  was 
at  its  height.  Already  more  than  1,000  houses — homesteads,  shops, 
farm-buildings — had  been  destroyed,  whereby  1,000  families  were 
left  without  homes.  Creameries  and  factories  had  been  ruined, 
thus  causing  widesipread  dislocation  in  the  economic  life  of  the 
areas  they  served,  with  consequent  acute  distress  and  poverty. 
Many  people  had  been  killed  or  maimed,  or  dragged  from  their 
families  to  be  confined  in  prisons  or  internment  camips.  And  it 
must  be  remem'bered  that  the  victims  of  this  policy  were  mainly 
the  non-combatant  population.  In  addition  to  these  victims  of  the 
policy  of  terrorism  by  the  British,  there  were  the  victims  of  the 
frrenzied  outburst  of  violence  in  Belfast,  in  consequence  of  which 
some  10,000  workers  had  been  expelled  from  the  factories  and 
workshops  of  that  city,  and  their  homes  destroyed  and  looted. 


18  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

As  a  result  oi  all  this  violence  there  were  about  100,000  people 
reduced  to  destitution,  with  no  alternative  left  to  them  but  the 
support  of  charity  or  escape  from  their  miseries  by  death  from 
want  and  hunger.  To  help  these  destitute  people  the  Irish  White 
Cross  was  founded.  For  this  task  funds  were  needed  on  a  scale 
more  extended  than  it  was  possible  for  Ireland  herelf  to  provide. 
That  these  funds  were  available  was  due  to  the  organisation  in  the 
United  States  of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland — 
a  list  of  whose  members  is  printed  at  the  beginning  of  this  report. 

No  reference  to  the  personnel  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  would 
be  complete  without  a  tribute  to  the  energy,  efficiency  and  courtesy 
of  the  Director  of  Organisation,  Henry  Kennedy,  M.A.,  D.Sc,  a 
member  of  the  staff  of  University  College,  Dublin  (to  which  the 
gratitude  of  the  Society  is  due  for  enabling  it  to  avail  itself  of  the 
services  of  Dr.  Kennedy),  the  Acting  Secretary,  Captain  D.  L. 
Robinson,  D.S.O.,  and  the  office  staff  generally,  under  their  direc- 
tion. The  work  involved  in  the  management  of  a  large  organisa- 
tion, such  as  the  Irish  White  Cross,  is  so  complex  that  were  it 
not  for  the  efficiency  of  the  Director  and  his  staff  the  Society 
could  not  have  succeeded  in  its  work  of  relief. 


SECTION  III. 

AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  FOR  RELIEF  IN  IRELAND. 

Quite  independently  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  in  Ireland,  there 
had  been  founded  in  New  York  City  in  December,  1920,  a  Com- 
mittee for  the  Relief  of  Irish  Distress.  This  Society  entered  on 
its  task  in'  the  same  humane  spirit  that  had  inspired  the  many 
charitable  organisations  sent  forth  from  the  United  States  to  re- 
lieve the  misery  and  suffering  in  European  areas  in  the  days  of 
the  great  war.  As  with  the  Irish  Society,  so  with  the  American 
Committee,  the  inspiring  motive  was  philanthropy,  not  politics. 
and  it  counted  among  its  supporters  representatives  of  all  classes, 
political  and  religious,  in  the  United  States. 

The  command  of  the  cables  by  the  British,  and  their  conse- 
quent control  of  the  ear  of  the  world,  made  it  difficult  for  the  facts 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  19 

of  the  Irish  situation  to  be  known  abroad ;  but  the  wall  was  not 
impervious,  and  the  cries  of  Irish  suffering  made  themselves  heard 
beyond  the  Atantic,  and  found  sympathetic  response  in  the  humane 
spirit  of  the  American  people.  The  Committee  set  about  its  task 
in  characteristic  American  fashion,  and  soon  the  call  for  the  relief 
of  Irish  suffering  made  itself  heard  from  the  Canadian  border  to 
the  Caribbean  Sea,  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  to  the  Pacific.  A 
series  of  great  "drives"  for  funds  was  organised  throughout  the 
48  States  of  the  Union,  and  in  a  short  period  of  time  the  Commit- 
tee had  at  its  command  a  large  sum — approximately  5,000,000  dol- 
lars— for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  in  Ireland. 

The  Committee  entered  on  its  task  with  the  approval  of  Presi- 
dent Harding,  who  sent  the  following  message  in  recommenda- 
tion of  its  work: — 

"I  wish  you  the  fullest  message  of  success,  not  only  in  the 
great  benefit  performance  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  on 
April  3rd,  but  in  every  worthy  effort  to  make  a  becoming  contribu- 
tion on  the  part  of  our  people  to  relieve  distress  among  the  women 
and  children  of  Ireland.  The  people  of  America  will  never  be 
deaf  to  the  call  for  relief  on  behalf  of  suffering  humanity,  and  the 
knowledge  of  distress  in  Ireland  makes  quick  and  deep  appeal  to 
the  more  fortunate  of  our  own  land,  where  so  many  of  our  citizens 
trace  kinship  to  the  Emerald  Isle." 

The  President's  support  was  followed  by  that  of  numbers  of 
men  prominent  in  American  life — Governors  of  States,  political 
leaders,  great  captains  of  industry,  churchmen  and  social  workers. 
Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Vice-President  Coolidge;  Her- 
bert Hoover,  Secretary  of  Commerce,  famous  for  his  work  in  relief 
of  Belgian  suffering;  J.  Wingate  Weeks,  Secretary  for  War;  Wil- 
liam J.  McAdoo,  ex-Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  Bernard  Baruch, 
ex-head  of  the  War  Industries  Board;  James  W.  Gerard,  ex-Ambas- 
sador to  Germany.  Many  of  these  did  not  rest  content  with  giving 
the  Committee  the  moral  support  of  their  approval,  or  helping  it 
by  their  personal  contributions  to  its  funds;  they  took  active  part 
in  the  campaign  in  support  of  the  "drives"  touring  the  country, 
and  making  known  everywhere  the  sufferings  of  the  Irish  people, 
and  the  need  for  means  for  their  relief. 

The  Catholic  Church,  as  was  but  natural  in  the  cause  of 
Ireland,      took   up   the   work  with   enthusiasm,   its   efforts   being 


20  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

generously  seconded  by  members  of  other  American  religious 
bodies.  In  this  connection  it  seems  right  to  mention  the  Jewish 
community  of  New  York  City,  which  made  a  united  eflfort  through 
its  clubs  to  give  generous  help  to  the  work  of  Irish  relief.  From 
the  beginning  American  members  of  the  Religious  Society  of 
Friends  were  prominent  in  the  ranks  of  the  active  workers.  In 
the  January  of  1921  a  group  of  its  members  (Messrs.  R.  Barclay 
Spicer,  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  Oren  B.  Wilbur.  Greenwich.  New  York; 
William  Price,  Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  John  C.  Baker,  Everett,  Pa. ; 
Walter  C.  Longstreth,  Philadelphia,  Pa.)  accompanied  by  Messrs. 
C.  J.  France,  Seattle,  Washington,  and  S,  D.  McCoy,  New  York 
City,  came  to  Ireland  to  ascertain  for  the  American  Committee  the 
nature  and  extent  of  American  aid  necessary  for  the  relief  of  the 
Irish  people.*  These  were  men  experienced  in  relief  and  recon- 
struction work  in  France  and  other  areas  devastated  in  the  great 
war. 

During  their  mission,  which  lasted  until  April,  1921,  Mr. 
France  acted  as  Chairman,  and  Mr.  McCoy  as  Secretary,  the 
latter  not  returning  to  America  until  October,  1921.  Mr.  France 
remained  in  Ireland  until  June,  1922,  acting  as  representative  of 
the  American  Committee  in  connection  with  the  distribution  of 
the  American  Fund,  and  winning  for  himself  the  regard  of  all  he 
met,  because  of  the  keen  sympathy  he  always  showed  with  Irish 
suffering.  Indeed,  his  interest  in  Ireland  and  her  people  extended 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  special  business  as  representative  of  the 
American  Committee,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  it  would  seem 
that  the  traditional  influence  of  the  country  on  strangers  was  exer- 
cised in  his  case  too,  for  of  him  it  can  be  said  with  truth  that  he 
was  "Hibernior  Hibernicis  ipsis." 

What  is  true  of  the  leaders  of  politics  and  religion  is  true 
also  of  other  sides  of  American  life.  Theatrical  managers  and 
leaders  in  the  world  of  athletics  and  sport,  all  lent  their  aid.  A 
famous  promoter  organised  a  tournament  whereby  was  netted 
£16,000  for  Irish  relief.  Then  there  was  Ireland's  great  singer, 
John  MacCormack,  who  organised  a  series  of  concerts,  helping  with 
his  own  glorious  voice,  and  handing  to  the  Committee  over  £35,000 
in  aid  of  the  Irish  sufferers. 

*  For  Report  of  the  delegates  on  the  conditions  in  Ireland,  made  to  the  Ameri- 
can Committee,  see  Appendix  B. 


i 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  21 

In  every  State  and  in  the  great  cities  prominent  men  were 
found  willing  to  serve  on  district  committees,  thus  ensuring  public 
confidence  all  through  the  United  States,  and  contributing  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  success  of  the  "drives."  On  the  lists  of  mem- 
bers of  these  committees  are  to  be  found  the  names  of  some  of  the 
best  known  men  in  the  life  of  America. 

Ably  supported  as  they  were  by  the  district  organisations, 
the  main  credit  for  the  success  of  the  American  Committee  is  due 
to  the  Central  Executive  and  its  officers.  Busy  men  all  of  them, 
prominent  in  the  commercial  life  of  New  York,  they  willingly  gave 
their  time  and  energy  to  the  work  of  the  Committee.  Special 
reference  must  be  made  to  the  untiring  efforts  of  Judge  Morgan 
J.  O'Brien,  Chairman;  Mr.  John  J.  Pulleyn,  Treasurer;  Judge 
Richard  Campbell,  Secretary,  and  the  other  members  of  the  Man- 
aging Committee,  Mr.  John  D.  Ryan,  Mr.  Thomas  J.  Moloney, 
and  Mr,  J.  W.  McConaughy.  A  word  of  appreciation  is  also  due 
to  the  members  of  the  staff,  and  to  Mr.  James  A.  Healy,  Assistant 
Secretary,  and  to  Mr.  E.  J.  McPike,  Assistant  Treasurer. 

As  proof  of  the  enthusiasm  for  the  fund  felt  by  the  people 
generally  the  following  details  may  be  cited : — 

The  procedure  of  the  Committee  in  raising  the  money  was 
to  assign  specific  amounts  as  the  quotas  of  the  States.  Six  States — 
Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  Hamphire,  Florida,  Delaware 
and  the  District  of  Columbia — over  subscribed  the  quotas  assigned. 
The  town  of  Dalton,  Mass.,  whose  population  is  only  4,000,  sub- 
scribed £1,000.  Cambria,  Co.,  Pa.,  sent  a  check  for  £2,500,  inti- 
mating that  it  was  its  desire  that  this  sum  should  be  given  to 
some  one  place  in  Ireland,  as  a  token  of  its  gratitude  for  help  ren- 
dered to  it  by  Ireland  in  1889,  when  it  suffered  heavily  through 
a  disastrous  flood.  This  amount  was  allocated  by  the  Committee 
to  the  Belfast  Expelled  Workers'  Fund.  From  the  American  Red 
Cross  came  a  contribution  of  £100,000. 

The  funds  thus  made  available  were  distributed  through  the 
Irish  White  Cross — the  American  Committee  recognising  the 
national  character  of  the  Society,  and  wisely  considering  that  the 
needs  of  the  sufferers  could  best  be  met  by  those  who  had  first- 
hand knowledge  of  the  circumstances  in  the  distressed  areas.  With- 
out the  aid  of  the  American  Committee  the  Irish  Society  could 
iiever  have  brought  adequate  relief  to  the  victims  of  the  Irish 


22  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

conflict.  That  they  were  in  a  position  to  do  so  is  due  almost 
wholly  to  the  fine  humanitarian  spirit  that  is  the  dominant  charac- 
teristic of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  but  fitting,  therefore,  on  the  departure  for  America  of 
Messrs.  Pulleyn  and  Campbell,  the  representatives  of  the  Com- 
mittee who  visited  Ireland  in  the  Autumn  of  1921,  that  public  ex- 
pression of  the  gratitude  of  the  Irish  people  should  have  been 
made  through  the  Irish  plenipotentiaries,  then  engaged  in  London 
in  negotiating  the  Irish  Peace,  The  "Irish  Bulletin"  of  November, 
1921,  published  the  letter  of  thanks,  signed  by  the  five  plenipoten- 
tiaries, and  devoted  the  whole  of  that  issue  to  an  appreciation  of 
the  work  of  relief  that  the  American  Committee  had  made  it  pos- 
sible to  carry  out  in  Ireland.  This  letter  is  reproduced  in  Appendix 
C  to  this  report. 


SECTION  IV. 


NATURE  AND  EXTENT  OF  THE  DISTRESS  IN  IRELAND. 

The  war  in  Ireland  was  a  struggle,  the  brunt  of  which  was 
borne  by  the  civilian  population  in  many  areas^  all  through  the 
country.  Very  many  people  lost  their  lives;  upon  many  more 
wounds  were  inflicted,  which  incapacitated  them  for  working  for 
the  support  of  themselves  and  of  their  dependents ;  property  of 
every  kind  was  destroyed,  towns,  villages,  and  isolated  houses  and 
farms  in  the  remoter  districts  being  ruined  by  fire  or  explosives. 
This  war  on  the  non-combatant  part  of  the  population  was  set  on 
foot  by  way  of  reprisal  for  the  acts  of  guerilla  warfare  carried  out 
by  the  fighting  men  of  the  Irish  National  movement,  and  also  be- 
cause— as  is  natural  in  such  warfare — it  was  not  easy  to  discrimi- 
nate between  the  fighting-men  and  the  non-combatants.  One  of 
its  objects  was  to  cow  by  terrorism  the  masses  of  the  people,  and 
so  to  deprive  the  armed  forces  of  the  movement  of  the  moral  sup- 
port of  the  general  body  of  the  people,  without  which,  it  was  felt, 
they  could  be  easily  dealt  with  and  forced  into  submission.  The 
sufferings  of  every  kind  thus  inflicted  on  such  a  wide  scale  threat- 
ened to  destroy  utterly  large  sections  of  the  Irish  community,  and 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  23 

it  was  to  endeavour  to  prevent  this  that  the  Irish  White  Cross  So- 
ciety came  into  being. 

It  has  ibeen  computed  that  in  the  course  of  this  conflict  at  least 
2,000  houses — dwellinghouses,  farmsteads,  shops — were  utterly  de- 
stroyed, while  about  1,500  were  partially  destroyed,  many  of  the 
latter  being  rendered  uninhabitable.  In  this  way  nearly  3,000 
families  were  cast  on  the  world  homeless,  and  very  often  with  the 
loss  of  their  entire  possessions.  The  majority  of  the  victims  were 
of  the  small  farmer  class  in  the  country,  and,  of  the  shopkeeper 
and  artisan  class  in  the  towns.  These  had  little  or  no  resources  to 
fall  back  upon,  and  were  it  not  for  the  aid  of  the  charitable  large 
numbers  must  have  perished  from  cold  or  hunger. 

Forty  Co-operative  Creameries  were  totally  ruined  and  their 
whole  machinery  reduced  to  scrap-iron,  thirty-five  were  partly 
wrecked  and  rendered  unfit  for  work.  Details  given  to  the  Repara- 
tion Commission,  now  constituted,  respecting  the  Condensed  Milk 
Co.  of  Ireland,  whose  Creamery  at  Mallow  was  burned,  make  it 
clear  how  severe  a  blow' was  dealt  to  rural  industry  by  this  policy 
of  ruin.  The  manager  stated  that  the  average  weekly  wages  bill 
before  the  burning  was  £510  Os.  Od.,  since  then  it  was  only  £210. 
The  employees  were  Mallow  men,  and  their  wages  were  expended 
in  the  town.  The  number  employed  was  200,  and  the  Creamery 
served  an  area  10  miles  in  radius  from  Mallow.  Ireland  being  so 
largely  an  agricultural  and  pastoral  country,  it  will  be  readily  under- 
stood how  serious  a  blow  this  destruction  was  to  the  economic  life 
and  general  well-being  of  the  areas  concerned.  The  destruction  of 
farmhouses,  etc.,  injured  primarily  the  individual  owners;  the  ruin 
of  the  Creameries  was  a  blow  at  the  very  life  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. Similar  in  its  effects  was  the  policy  of  .banning  fairs  and 
markets  in  disturbed  areas  on  the  pretext  of  restoring  order.  This 
punitive  measure  was  frequently  resorted  to  all  through  the  South 
and  West,  and  it  inflicted  enormous  losses  in  the  areas  involved. 
In  certain  parts  of  the  island  whole  districts,  e.g.,  the  Dingle  Penin- 
sula and  parts  of  Donegal,  were  isolated,  cut  oflf  as  by  a  blockade 
from  the  rest  of  the  country — a  policy,  the  effects  of  which  were 
intensified  by  the  derailing  of  trains  by  the  national  forces,  with 
its  consequent  dislocation  of  rail-borne  traffic  in  some  of  those  areas, 
as  in  Donegal.  No  transport  was  permitted  in  or  out,  no  postal 
services  were  allowed;  as  such  areas  depend  largely  on  outside* 


24  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

districts,  it  is  not  surprising  that  such  a  measure  cost  the  inhabi- 
tants much  suffering  in  hunger  and  want  of  every  kind.  In  many 
of  the  areas  that  have  undergone  this  policy  it  will  take  years  to 
undo  the  injury  inflicted  on  their  economic  life.  Individual  suffer- 
ers may  be  partially  compensated  for  the  losses  they  have  sustained, 
but  the  loss  to  the  community  cannot  so  easily  be  repaired. 

In  the  course  of  the  struggle  some  7,000  persons  were  arrested, 
and  frequently  without  a  charge  even  being  made  against  them, 
were  confined  in  prisons  or  internment  camps.  The  great  majority 
of  these  were  non-combatants,  and  as  the  labour  and  most  of  them 
was  necessary  for  the  support  of  their  families,  the  consequent 
suffering  of  their  dependents  was  often  very  considerable.  Fre- 
quently three  or  four  were  taken  from  the  same  house,  the  only 
bread-winners  winners  of  their  families,  and  the  plight  of  the  latter 
was  pitiable.  The  conditions  in  many  of  the  camps  were  bad,  and 
so  the  families  thus  deprived  of  their  means  of  support  had  to 
provide  not  only  for  themselves  as  best  they  could,  but  often  for 
their  former  breadwinners  in  addition.  It  is  true  that  national 
associations  were  organised  to  help  the  prisoners,  but,  needless  to 
say,  in  the  great  want  that  prevailed  throughout  the  country  those 
efforts  fell  far  short  of  what  was  required. 

Another  direction  in  which  the  conflict  adversely  affected  Irish 
life  in  general  relates  to  the  municipal  and  public  services.  For 
certain  purposes  it  was  the  practice  to  make  grants  from  the  British 
Treasury  to  public  bodies  in  respect  of  certain  public  services. 
The  grants,  of  course,  were  from  the  taxes  paid  by  the  Irish  tax- 
payer to  the  British  tax  collectors.  Because  of  the  refusal  of  the 
public  bodies  any  longer  to  recognise  the  British  administrative 
authorities  in  Ireland,  these  payments  were  withheld  by  the  British 
Treasury.  In  certain  cases  such  action  was  a  serious  menace  to 
public  well-being,  e.g.,  in  the  case  of  municipal  contributions  to  the 
up-keep  of  hospitals  and  to  the  provision  of  school  meals  for  necessi- 
tious  school  children.  In  the  resulting  disorganisation  of  municipal 
finance  such  contributions  were  no  longer  available,  and  much 
hardship  was  inflicted  on  classes  of  the  community  very  unfitted 
to  have  any  addition  made  to  the  ordinary  burdens  of  their  life. 
The  injury  to  the  public  through  the  consequent  hampering  of 
the  hospital  services  was  exceedingly  grave,  and  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  it  took  place  at  a  time  when  their  wards  were 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  25 

crowded  with  the  results  of  the  policy  of  murder  and  maiming 
that  was  the  order  of  the  day. 

Even  graver,  because  of  its  possible  and  probable  effects  on 
the  physical  health  of  the  future  generations,  was  the  hamper- 
ing of  the  activities  of  the  various  societies  concerned  with  child- 
welfare.  In  cities  and  towns  there  is  always  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  the  population  either  beyond  or  not  far  removed  from 
the  border-line  of  poverty  or  actual  want.  For  the  feeding  and 
general  care  of  the  children  of  tender  age  of  these  impoverished 
people  public  aid  is  essential  if  they  are  to  survive  at  all.  In  Ireland 
as  in  Great  Britain  these  societies  were  aided  by  the  municipal 
and  other  local  bodies,  who  were  empowered  by  statute  to  strike 
rates  for  specific  purposes,  and  on  the  rate  being  struck  were 
entitled  to  grants  in  aid  from  the  British  Treasury.  At  best,  these 
contributions  fell  far  short  of  what  these  services  required  for 
their  adequate  performance.  The  withdrawal  of  the  grant  was, 
therefore,  in  effect  an  act  of  war  on  hungry  children,  whatever 
was  its  intention;  and  it  was  a  blow  impossible  to  parry  iri'  the 
general  dislocation  of  municipal  finance  had  not  the  Irish  White 
Cross  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  societies  thus  hampered.  There 
can  be  no  question  that  its  action  in  this  matter  came  well  within 
its  scope  as  reliever  of  the  victims  of  the  Irish  war. 

In  Dublin  alone  the  number  of  children  fed  at  school  at  pub- 
lic cost  varies  in  normal  times  from  some  7,000  in  the  warmer  sea- 
sons to  about  10,000  as  the  winter  advances.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  amounts  available  for  this  service,  even  when  sup- 
plemented by  the  Treasury  grants,  allowed  only  very  scanty  pro- 
vision for  the  needs  of  the  poor  hungry  children.  All  during  the 
period  of  the  conflict — when  industry  had  been  disorganised,  and 
the  breadwinners  in  many  of  these  poor  families  thrown  out  of 
employment  through  various  causes  connected  directly  or  indirectly 
with  the  conflict — the  need  for  such  feeding  was  stronger  than  ever. 

Besides  provision  for  school  meals,  there  was  also  municipal 
aid  rendered  to  other  bodies  concerned  with  infant  welfare,  e.g., 
baby-clubs,  societies  of  a  philanthropic  character  that  concern 
themselves  with  the  general  care  of  babies  in  poor  homes,  and  look 
after  sick  and  expectant  mothers,  whose  home  resources  do  not 
permit  of  their  meals  being  provided  for  otherwise.  All  those 
societies  had  their  usefulness  much  curtailed  through  the  disloca- 


26  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

tion  of  the  municipal  finances,  and  some  of  them,  if  they  were  to 
continue  their  very  necessary  work,  had  to  be  aided  by  the  Irish 
White  Cross. 

The  systematic  destruction  of  industry  was  one  of  the  objects 
of  the  terror.  Its  effect  in  connection  with  one  branch  of  indus- 
trial effort  has  already  been  touched  on  in  reference  to  the  ruin  of 
the  creameries  and  other  sections  of  co-operative  work.  In  many 
of  the  smaller  towns,  where  the  inhabitants  were  dependent  on  one 
or  two  industries  for  employment,  the  results  of  this  policy  were 
still  more  disastrous.  Balbriggan  is  a  case  in  point.  Here,  on  the 
night  of  September  20th,  1920,  by  way  of  a  reprisal  for  the  killing 
of  a  police  officer,  25  dwellinghouses  with  their  contents  were 
burned  to  the  ground,  and  the  owners  and  their  families  thus  ren- 
dered homeless.  This  was  bad  enough,  but  a  much  more  serious 
blow  was  struck  against  the  life  of  the  people  by  the  total  destruc- 
truction  of  one  of  the  famous  Balbriggan  hosiery  factories,  on 
which  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  little  town 
depended  for  their  means  of  living.  By  the  destruction  of  this  one 
factory  alone  120  persons  employed  therein  were  thrown  out  of 
work,  and  in  addition  300  others  who  worked  for  it  by  doing  piece- 
work at  their  own  homes. 

The  burning  of  Cork  on  December  11th  and  12th,  1920,  may 
be  fittingly  mentioned  here,  because  of  the  large  number  of  busi- 
ness premises  destroyed  in  the  conflagration,  and  the  resultant  dis- 
tress caused  to  those  who  had  found  employment  therein.  It  is 
not  considered  necessary  to  describe  in  detail  the  burning  and  its 
attendant  incidents,  or  the  mysteriousness  in  which  those  respon- 
sibe  for  this  gigantic  act  of  arson  sought  to  involve  it.  It  is  suffi- 
cient here  to  summarize  the  ruin  wrought  as  it  affected  the  workers 
it  threw  out  of  employment.  The  commercial  heart  of  the  city 
was  burned  out — some  45  business  premises  being  destroyed,  many 
of  them  the  largest  of  their  kind  in  the  province  of  Munster.  The 
total  amount  of  damage  done  has  been  approximately  assessed  by 
the  City  Engineer  (in  a  report  to  the  Cork  Corporation)  at 
£2,000,000. 

In  a  City  such  as  Cork  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  with  accuracy 
the  number  of  people  who  were  directly  involved  in  distress  by 
this  destruction,  but  it  is  safe  to  take  the  estimate  givn  in  the  same 
report,  that  close  upon  4,000  persons — men,  women,  and  children — 


i 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  27 

had  to  be  relieved  by  reason  of  the  loss  of  their  employment.  The 
ordinary  charitable  associations  could  not  cope  with  the  burden 
thus  cast  upon  them,  and  the  Irish  White  Cross  had  to  undertake 
responsibility  for  their  maintenance. 

The  injury  inflicted  on  the  workers  of  Balbriggan  and  Cork 
was  but  typical  of  that  inflicted  on  those  in  many  of  the  other  Irish 
towns  "shot  up,"  burned  and  looted — ^Thurles,  Templemore,  Tralee, 
Tobercurry,  Mallow,  etc. — with  the  consequence  that  the  already 
large  volume  of  unemployment  due  to  ordinary  conomic  depression 
was  greatly  increased,  and  many  thousands  of  persons  who  had 
been  able  to  live  in  comfort  were  reduced  to  poverty  and  made 
dependent  on  charity. 

Notwithstanding  the  vast  extent  of  the  havoc  and  ruin  wrought 
in  the  South  and  West  in  the  course  of  the  conflict,  the  problem 
presented  by  the  disorder  prevailing  in  Belfast,  almost  without  a 
break  since  July,  1920,  was  the  most  serious  task  that  confronted 
the  White  Cross.  All  through  its  history  that  city  has  been  the 
scene  of  bitter  conflict,  inspired  by  religious  hate.  To-day,  in  the 
20th  century,  the  same  inspiring  force,  intensified  by  political  ani- 
mosity, has  made  its  name  a  bye-word  wherever  tolerance  is  re- 
garded as  a  characteristic  of  civilised  men. 

In  July,  1920,  occurred  one  of  those  periodical  outbursts,  and 
immediately  the  city  became  a  place  where  ceased  to  exist  all  those 
civic  virtues  that  usually  bind  together  those  who  live  and  work 
side  by  side.  A  policy  of  expulsion  of  Catholic  workers  from  the 
factories  and  shipyards  of  the  city  was  set  on  foot,  and  in  less 
than  three  weeks  nearly  10,000  workers  in  Belfast  and  its  vicinity 
were  forcibly  prevented  from  earning  their  living,  and  thrown  on 
charity  for  the  support  of  themselves  and  their  dependents,  who 
numbered  about  20,000.  Their  houses  were  burned,  their  property 
destroyed  or  looted,  with  the  result  that  people  who,  previously, 
had  lived  in  comparative  comfort,  were  thrown  on  the  world  home- 
less and  workless.  Were  it  not  for  the  aid  of  the  Irish  White  Cross 
it  is  only  too  certain  that  many  of  those  victims  would  have  perished 
from  hunger. 

A  peculiarly  savage  outburst  occurred  in  July,  1921,  in  the 
course  of  which  58  cottages,  occupied  by  Belfast  labourers  and 
artisans,  were  completely  destroyed,  and  the  others  badly  injured, 
many  of  them  being  rendered  uninhabitable.    Besides  these  houses, 


28  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

103  others  were  wrecked,  the  furniture  destroyed,  and  everything 
portable  looted — a  total  of  161  houses  of  poor  labourers  and  their 
families. 

A  vivid  account  of  the  suffering  then  inflicted  was  written 
shortly  after  the  occurrence  by  Mr.  C.  J.  France,  the  representative 
of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland,  from  which  a 
short  extract  is  here  quoted : — 

"The  scene  of  destruction  which  one  witnesses  is  beyond 
power  of  description.  One  could  not  believe  it  possible  that 
161  houses  could  be  entirely  gutted  either  by  fire  or  by  the 
destruction  of  every  bit  of  furniture  where  fires  were  not  actu- 
ally started. 

"But  I  actually  saw  with  my  own  eyes  in  Cupar  Street, 
Belfast,  forty-one  houses  which  had  either  -been  completely 
gutted  or  partially  wrecked.  In  David  Street  four  houses  have 
been  destroyed;  in  Norfolk  Street  thirty-six;  nine  in  Lower 
Urney  Street;  in  Argyle  Street  seventeen  houses  in  lower 
division ;  in  Panpark  Street  nine  houses ;  in  Conway  Street 
sixteen  houses,  and  in  Antrim  Street  thirteen  houses. 

"To  me  this  destruction  was  more  heart-rending  than  even 
the  destruction  in  Cork. 

"In  the  latter  city  the  monetary  value  of  that  which  was 
destroyed  was  far  in  excess  of  the  destruction  in  Belfast.  But 
the  destruction  in  Cork  was  that  of  business  houses  and  city 
Iblocks.  The  destruction  in  Belfast  struck  a  blow  at  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-one  families.  As  these  families  average  a  hus- 
band, wife,  and  six  children,  nearly  a  thousand  persons  were 
made  homeless  in  this  district  in  a  single  day.  When  one  sees, 
as  I  saw,  that  the  people  in  this  district  are  actually  as  poor 
as  almost  any  people  to  be  found  in  any  city  of  the  world,  and 
when  one  realises  that  the  great  majority  of  them  were  driven 
from  their  dwellings,  many  without  clothes  to  their  backs,  in  the 
early  hours  of  the  morning,  their  suffering  and  distress  make 
a  deep  appeal.  While  these  people  possessed  little  of  worldly 
goods,  their  furniture,  sacred  emblems,  pictures,  and  other 
precious  accumulations  of  a  life-time,  were  all  destroyed. 

"Not  until  we  visited  the  schoolhouses,  where  many  of 
these  refugees  had  taken  shelter,  did  we  realise  to  the  full  how 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  29 

utterly  denuded  of  every  earthly  possession  were  the  poor  un- 
fortunate men,  women  and  children.  In  one  schoolhouse  we 
found  the  women  and  children,  and  in  another  men  and  boys; 
so  that  one  part  of  the  family  was  separated  from  another,  with 
no  hope  of  reunion,  and  a  terrible  uncertainty  as  to  what  the 
morrow  would  bring  forth. 

"I  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  generosity  of  the  neigh- 
ibours  of  these  refugees — the  neighbours  whose  homes  had 
escaped  devastation.  Every  family  who  had  a  spare  room  gave 
shelter  and  food  and  clothing  to  those  driven  from  their  homes. 
Every  day  for  two  weeks  these  poor  people  would  cook  an 
extra  plate  of  potatoes  each  noon-day  and  bring  it  to  the  schools 
to  feed  the  men,  women,  and  children.  Many  shared  their 
clothing,  and  others  contributed  money  for  tea  and  bread." 

These  are  the  words  of  an  impartial  reporter  and  competent 
observer  whose  judgment  was  influenced  by  no  bias  of  partisan- 
ship, political  or  religious — a  man  interested  solely  in  the  alleviation 
of  human  suffering.  The  scene  he  describes  is  one  to  which  in- 
numerable parallels  might  be  cited  from  the  recent  history  of 
Belfast. 

The  destruction  of  houses  in  this  city  was  carried  on  through- 
out the  whole  period  of  the  disorder,  with  the  consequence  that  the 
Society  found  it  necessary  to  undertake  a  considerable  amount  of 
reconstruction  work,  in  rebuilding  and  repairing  houses  to  replace 
those  that  had  been  destroyed.  A  sum  of  £18,000  was  expended  in 
this  work,  and  in  one  street  in  the  Catholic  quarter  42  houses  are 
now  practically  complete.  The  new  street  is  called  Amcomri  Street, 
after  the  code  word  of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ire- 
land— a  name  which  appropriately  commemorates  the  beneficient 
work  that  the  humane  spirit  of  the  American  people  made  it  pos- 
sible for  the  Irish  White  Cross  to  execute. 

For  the  relief  of  the  victims  large  contributions  were  made 
from  every  part  of  Ireland,  and  from  othef  countries.  Generous 
as  were  these  offerings,  they  were  soon  exhausted  in  the  effort  to 
cope  with  the  distress  and  misery  into  which  v^ere  plunged  so 
many  thousands  of  helpless  people.  Thus,  from  the  time  of  its 
inception  the  Irish  White  Cross  had  to  take  upon  itself  respon- 
sibility for  all  the  work  of  relief,  and  without  its  aid  the  conse- 


30  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

quences  to  the  victims  of  the  savage  anarchy  of  Belfast  would 
have  been  even  more  disastrous  than  they  have  been. 

Belfast  was,  of  course,  not  the  only  part  of  the  North-Eastern 
corner  marked  hy  these  excesses;  its  example  was  followed  in 
other  centres — I>isburn,  Bangor,  Dromore,  Banbridge,  Newtown- 
.ards — all  suffered  in  similar  fashion.  Lisburn,  in  fact,  suffered  pro- 
portionately greater  losses  than  were  suffered  by  the  Catholics  of 
Belfast.  From  all  these  places  and  elsewhere  throughout  the  "six 
counties"  came  cries  of  distress  that  called  for  the  succour  of  the 
charitable,  and  to  all  of  them  the  Irish  White  Cross  was  responsive 
to  the  utmost  limit  of  its  resources. 

The  value  of  the  property  destroyed  in  Belfast  amounts,  it  is 
computed,  to  almost  £2,000,000,  and  at  Lisburn  to  about  £800,000. 
These  figures,  great  as  they  are,  represent  only  a  fraction  of  the 
total  loss  caused  in  those  scandalous  disorders.  There  can  be  no 
actuarial  estimate  of  the  loss  caused  by  the  murders  and  the  human 
suffering  of  which  this  city  has  been  the  scene  since  the  outbreak 
in  1920. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  in  detail  the  various 
kinds  of  distress  that  resulted  either  directly  or  indirectly  from  the 
war.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  scarcely  a  branch  of  Irish  life  was  un- 
affected. A  rough  estimate  of  the  havoc  wrought  may  ibe  formed 
from  the  claims  of  compensation  heard  in  the  law  courts.  Judging 
by  the  decrees  granted,  the  material  loss  alone  amounted  to  about 
£10,000,000.  And  this  figure,  which  does  not  take  into  account 
the  consequential  damages  resulting  from  loss  of  property  and 
interruptions  of  industry,  is  certainly  a  conservative  one,  inasmuch 
as  many  claims  could  not  be!  heard  at  all  in  consequence  of  the 
denial  by  the  British  Government  of  the  jurisdiction  of  their  own 
civil  courts  in  cases  where  the  havoc  was  alleged  to  have  been  done 
by  the  Crown  forces  acting  with  authority.  As  regards  the  non-com- 
batants killed,  no  official  figures  have  been,  published,  but  from 
a  survey  made  by  the  Department  of  Home  Affairs  it  is  clear  that 
(outside  the  North-East  area)  some  500  men,  women  and  children 

— non-combatants lost  their  lives;  many  more  were   maimed, 

many  of  them  permanently  disabled,  and  most  of  them  incapa- 
citated for  work  for  longer  or  shorter  peri'ods.  For  these  and  their 
dependents  the  Irish  White  Cross  had  to  provide,  and  without  the 
aid  it  rendered,  it  is  indubitable  that  a  much  larger  number  of  the 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  31 

Irish  epople  would  have  perished,  or  have  been  rendered  perma- 
nently unfitted  to  work  for  the  support  of  themselves  and  their 
dependents. 


SECTION  V. 

POLICY  AND  METHOD  ADOPTED  IN  AFFORDING 

RELIEF. 

When  the  Irish  White  Cross  came  to  deal  with  the  sufferers, 
it  took  the  parish  as  a  unit  of  its  action,  giving  aid  within  this  area 
through  the  medium  of  parish  committees.  Throughout  the  coun- 
try, outside  Belfast,  where  special  circumstances  rendered  a  dif- 
ferent arrangement  desirable,  some  600  parish  committees  were 
instituted.  These  committees  were  in  general  thoughly  represen- 
tative of  the  people  in  the  various  parishes  in  which  distress  pre- 
vailed. As  a  rule,  the  local  clergy  and  other  responsible  people 
took  an  active  part  in  their  formation  and  working.  The  services 
of  the  members  were  voluntary,  and  this  remark  applies  to  prac-* 
tically  all  the  secretaries,  despite  the  fact  that  in  many  areas  where 
the  distress  reached  very  serious  proportions,  their  work  involved 
a  vast  amount  of  labour.  Many  of  those  secretaries  were  people 
in  poor  circumstances,  who  had  to  work  for  their  living  during  the 
day,  and  who  devoted  their  scanty  leisure  to  the  work  of  helping 
their  suffering  neighbours.  No  secretary  was  paid  a  regular  salary, 
and  only  in  a  few  cases  was  an  ex  gratia  grant  of  a  small  sum 
paid  by  the  central  authority  to  officers,  who  found  it  necessary  to 
devote  some  of  their  working  hours  to  the  work  of  the  committees. 
No  claims  for  such  payment  were  presented  by  the  secretaries 
concerned,  and  in  making  it  the  central  office  desired  to  offer  some 
slight  recompense  to  people  who  could  ill  afford  the  loss  of  their 
wages  resulting  from  their  devotion  to  charitable  work  on  behalf 
of  their  afflicted  neighbours,  and  to  mark  its  appreciation  of  their 
self-sacrifice. 

With  those  committees  originated  applications  for  relief  to  the 
Standing  Executive  in  Dublin,  and  by  them,  accompanying  the 
applications,  were  submitted  details  concerning  the  nature  of  the 
distress,  its  causes,  and  other  circumstances  relative  thereto  e,  g.. 


32  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

the  numiber  of  dependents  of  the  prsons  for  whom  relief  was  sought, 
their  ages,  the  manner  in  which  it  was  proposed  to  apply  any  sum 
granted,  etc. 

At  first  every  application  came  up  for  decision  before  the 
Standing  Eecutive  Committee,  thus  enabling  that  body  to  gain  a 
full  knowledge  of  the  various  kinds  of  relief  needed,  and  to  formu- 
late lines  of  policy  and  to  make  rules  governing  the  mode  in  which 
grants  were  to  be  distributed.  Before  long  the  numiber  of  cases  for 
decision  became  so  large  that  to  have  them  dealt  with  individually 
by  the  Standing  Executive  would  have  involved  undue  delay 
when  immediate  relief  was  needed.  Accordingly,  at  an  early  date, 
the  various  types  of  distress  were  classified,  and  the  decision  as  to 
whether  a  particular  application  came  under  any  of  the  various 
heads  left  to  a  sub-committee  appointed  ad  hoc.  Later  this  com- 
mittee, with  the  sanction  of  the  Standing  Executive,  arranged  that 
all  ordinary  cases  should  be  dealt  with  by  the  Director,  acting  in 
conjunction  with  one  or  more  members  of  the  committee  of  relief 
— unusual  or  special  cases  ibeing  still  referred  to  the  Standing 
Executive.  This  arrangement  made  it  possible  to  have  applications 
considered  with  the  minimum  of  delay,  and  thenceforward  this 
was  the  procedure  followed  in  every  case  in  which  relief  was 
granted,  outside  the  areas  of  Cork  and  Belfast. 

In  Cork,  owing  to  the  special  circumstances  due  to  the  burning 
of  the  city,  a  special  Committee,  the  Cork  District  Committee  of 
Relief,  was  authorised  to  deal  with  all  applicationsi'  for  personal 
relief  within  the  city  and  county.  The  procedure  followed  in 
dealing  with  these  applications  was  identical  with  that  of  the  Dub- 
lin Central  Office,  the  Committee  apportioning  the  relief  to  the 
sufferers  in  its  area  and  receiving  from  Dublin  the  necessary  funds. 

As  regards  Belfast,  the  local  committee  that  had  been  organ- 
ised to  collect  for  the  "Belfast  Expelled  Workers'  Fund"  in  aid  of 
the  victims  of  the  expulsions  of  July,  1920,  had  practically  ex- 
hausted its  funds  by  the  time  the  Irish  White  Cross  was  inaugur- 
ated. The  latter  body  had,  therefore,  to  undertake  responsibility 
for  the  continuance  of  the  relief  work,  and  this  it  did  by  paying  to 
the  local  committee  £5,000  per  week.  This  arrangement  continued 
until  November,  1921,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  great  increase 
in  the  number  of  cases  to  be  relieved,  and  the  newer  forms  of  dis- 
tress accompanying  each  new  outbreak  of  violence,  it  was  found 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  33 

necessary  to  establish  a  special  Belfast  White  Cross  Committee,  to 
supervise  the  personal  relief  work  in  that  city  and  its  vicinity, 
which  received  the  necessary  funds  from  the  Dublin  Central  Office. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  voluntary  character  of  the 
work  done  by  the  parish  committees.  The  same  remark  applies 
to  that  performed  by  the  members  of  the  General  Council,  the 
Standing  Executive,  and  the  various  sub-committees  that  it  was 
found  necessary  to  institute.  The  only  expenses  incurred  were 
in  connection  with  the  staffs  in  the  central  office  at  Dublin,  and 
the  offiices  in  Cork  and  Belfast,  where  the  large  amount  of  distress 
to  be  relieved  entailed  the  employment  of  whole-time  officials.  The 
Standing  Executive  passed  a  resolution  that  none  of  its  members 
should  be  eligible  for  any  paid  office  connected  with  the  work  of 
the  Society,  and  also  that  all  administrative  expenses  should  be 
paid  out  of  money  subscribed  in  Ireland,  thus  setting  free  for  pur- 
poses of  relief  all  the  funds  that  came  through  the  American  Com- 
mittee. '     ■       ■ 

In  the  Balance  Sheet  (Section  I.)  will  be  found  a  statement 
of  the  administrative  expenses,  from  which  it  will  be  apparent 
that  the  percentage  of  the  total  cost  to  the  amount  expended  in 
relief  was  uncommonly  low,  amounting  to  less  than  one  per  cent. 
That  the  expenses  were  kept  so  low  is  due  to  the  vast  amount 
of  lafbour  voluntarily  undertaken  and  cheerfully  carried  out  in  the 
cause  of  this  great  national  charity. 

During  the  period  of  the  working  of  the  Irish  White  Cross 
distress  of  all  kinds,  both  connected  with  an  unconnected  with  the 
conflict,  was  so  prevalent  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  define 
what  was  a  White  Cross  case.  In  the  definition  two  conditions 
were  laid  down  as  necessary: — 

(a)  There  must  be  actual  distress,  requiring  monetary  or 
other  aid,  that  could  not  be  provided  unless  the  White  Cross 
helped.  For  instance,  if  a  sufferer's  needs  could  be  provided  for 
by  his  relatives'  application,  on  his  behalf  would  not  be  enter- 
tained. 

(b)  The  distress  must  have  risen  through  the  existing  strife 
in  Ireland. 

In  deciding  on  the  applications  these  two  conditions  were  al- 
ways strictly  adhered  to.    This  policy,  doubtless,  led  to  the  rejection 


34  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

of  many  claims  for  relief  that  would  come  within,  the  scope  of  an 
ordinary  charitable  society,  but  the  extent  of  the  distress  arising 
out  of  the  warfare  was  so  vast  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  re- 
strict relief  in  this  way,  otherwise  the  funds  available  would  not 
have  covered  a  tithe  of  the  cases  that  were  specific  White  Cross 
cases. 

A  rough  attempt  at  classification  of  the  kinds  of  distress  that 
were  relieved  by  the  Society,  with  a  summary  of  the  expenditure 
and  the  reasons  therefor,  is  here  set  forth : — 

A.— PERSONAL  RELIEF. 

(a)  Relief  in  form  of  weekly  allowances  was  granted  to  de- 
pendents of  civilians  who  were  prevented  from  working  at  their 
business  through  being  "on  the  run"  or  imprisoned  for  reasons 
connected  with  the  political  situation,  and  to  the  dependents  of 
civilians  killed  in  the  course  of  the  struggle. 

(b)  Similar  allowances  were  made  to  civilians  when  for 
various  reasons  arising  out  of  the  political  situation,  they  were 
prevented  from  following  their  ordinary  occupations,  e.  g.,  through 
being  forbidden  by  the  British  authorities  to  reside  in  their  home 
areas,  or  through  being  expelled  from  their  work,  as  happened 
in  Belfast,  or  through  the  destruction  of  their  business  by  the 
action  of  the  Crown  forces,  pending  its  re-establishment. 

(c)  Grants  in  the  form  of  lump  sums  were  made  to  persons 
who  had  been  wounded,  where  the  circumstances  made  such  a 
payment  preferable  to  a  weekly  dole,  and  also  in  similar  circum- 
stances for  the  purchase  of  necessities,  such  as  clothing,  bedding, 
essential  furniture,  and  trade  implements,  when  such  articles  had 
been  destroyed  in  the  course  of  the  policy  of  the  terror,  carried 
out  so  extensively  against  the  non-combatant  population. 

Personal  relief  (grants  and  weekly  allowances),  thus  distrib- 
uted through  thirty-two  counties  of  Ireland,  the  sums  varying  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  of  distress  that  prevailed,  amounted  on  31st 
August,  1922,  to  £742,187  5s.  5d.  The  apportionment  by  prov- 
inces of  this  sum  was  as  follows : — 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  35 

£        s.  d. 

Leinster 86,489    2    8 

Ulster 389,320  13     1 

Munster 230,775    4    6 

Connaught -. 35,602    5    2 

Total £742,187    5    5 

Particulars  as  to  the  amounts  received  for  distribution  by  the 
different  parish  committees  will  be  found  in  Appendix  D.,  in  the 
audited  statement  of  the  "Geographical  Distribution  of  Personal 
Relief  to  August  31,  1922."  The  large  amounts  spent  in  this  man- 
ner in  Ulster  and  Munster  as  compared  with  the  other  provinces 
are  mainly  due  to  the  calls  upon  the  Society  from  Belfast  and 
Cork,  where,  owing  to  the  special  circumstances  connected  with 
the  warfare  in  both  these  areas,  the  distress  to  be  relieved  reached 
appalling  proportions. 

Of  the  items  coming  under)  the  head  of  personal  relief  one 
seems  worthy  of  special  mention — the  help  given  through  the  So- 
ciety to  Irish  prisoners  and  their  dependents.  Very  many  of  thos^ 
imprisoned  were  persons  in  poor  circumstances,  and  their  deten- 
tion meant  acute  want  for  their  families.  In  many  cases  the 
prisoners  were  the  sole  bread-winners  in  their  homes,  and  their 
wages  were  the  only  means  of  support  their  families  had.  In  other 
cases  their  labour  was  necessary  to  the  working  of  their  farms, 
and  in  their  absence  it  had  to  be  substituted  iby  hired  help.  It  is 
true  that  frequently  the  imprisoned  labourers  were  replaced  on  the 
farm  by  voluntary  workers  from  the  neighbourhood — and  the  Irish 
peasant  is  always  generous  in  rendering  such  help.  But  in  the  dis- 
tressed areas  such  voluntary  labour  was  not  always  available — 
there  were  too  many  involved  in  the  circumstances  that  caused 
the  distress,  and  if  the  farms  were  to  'be  worked — as  they  had  to 
be  worked  if  the  families  were  to  be  enabled  to  live — labour  had 
to  be  hired.  In  all  these  cases  the  prisoner's  dependents  had  to  be 
helped  to  live  in  his  absence. 

Direct  help  was  given  with  this  object  by  the  Irish  White 
Cross  in  the  ordinary  course  of  the  relief  work  carried  out  through 
the  parish  committees ;  (but,  in  order  to  prevent  overlapping,  it  was 
considered  wise  to  utilise  the  organisation  of  the  Prisoners  De- 


36  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

pendents'  Fund  for  the  distribution  of  relief  in  Dublin  and  dis- 
trict in  the  case  of  the  dependents  of  prisoners.  The  committee 
of  this  organisation  co-operated  with  the  Irish  White  Cross  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  of  relief,  and  on  the  release  of  the  prisoners 
that  followed  the  Treaty  of  Peace  the  sum  of  £10,0001  was  en- 
trusted to  the  committee,  to  enable  it  to  meet  the  very  pressing 
needs  of  hundreds  of  the  released  men.  Many  of  them  were  abso- 
lutely penniless,  and  when  the  prison  doors  were  opened  they 
found  themselves  free  men  indeed,  but  unable  to  travel  to  their 
homes  for  want  of  money  to  pay  their  fares.  Many  of  them,  too, 
had  to  be  provided  with  clothing,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  com- 
fort, but  often  for  the  sake  of  decency.  And  when  finally  they  did 
reach  their  homes,  many  had  still  to  be  supported  because  they 
were  unable  to  find  work,  or  because  they  were  unable  to  work 
owing  to  physical  breakdown,  due  to  their  confinement  in  the 
frequently  insanitary  prisons  and  internment  camps. 

Th^  Irish  White  Cross  owes  it  to  itself  to  emphasise  this  as- 
pect of  its  work  of  relief  if  only  in  answer  to  voices  of  criticism, 
honest,  perhaps,  but  certainly)  ill-informed,  that  have  sometimes 
found  fault  with  its  administration  from  tTie  National  standpoint. 
It  is  true  that  such  critics  are  few,  very  few;  but,  like  all  people 
anxious  to  find  faults,  they  have  been  persistent.  That  there  is  no 
basis  for  such  criticism  is  clear  from  the  sums  spent  on  the  relief 
of  prisoners  and  their  dependents. 

B.— RECONSTRUCTION. 

While  relief  in  the  foregoing  forms  was  necessary  all  through 
the  period  during  which  the  Society  functioned,  it  was  always  felt 
that  work  of  a  reconstructive  character  was  desirable.  The  doles 
and  grants  met  merely  the  immediate  needs,  but  they  were  not 
sufficient  if  the  sufiferers  were  to  be  placed  in  a  position  to  take  up 
the  broken  threads  of  their  occupations,  and  to  resume  the  busi- 
ness of  making  a  livelihood  for  themselves  and  their  dependents. 
Houses  had  to  be  repaired  in  order  to  provide  the  victims  of  the 
policy  of  the  fire-brand  and  the  explosive-bomb  with  a  roof  to  shel- 
ter them,  and  money  had  to  be  supplied  in  order  to  enable  them  to 
replace  destroyed  stock  and  and  farm  implements,  etc. — in  a  word, 
they  had  to  be  enabled  to  earn  their  bread  by  their  own  exertions, 
and  to  be  free  from  the  taint  of  charity. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  37 

That  the  Executive  Committee  had  from  the  beginning  con- 
templated a  policy  of  reconstruction  is  clear  from  the  first  appeal 
issued  by  the  Society;  and  with  this  o^bject  in  view  a  special 
Reconstruction  Commission  was  appointed  in  April,  1921.  In  that 
month  the  Executive  Committee  appointed  a  number  of  Commis- 
sioners "to  administer  funds  intended  for  use  in  the  form  of  repay- 
able loans,  for  the  purpose  of  rebuilding  destroyed  houses  in  the 
devastated  areas,  and  for  other  works  of  reconstruction."  The 
following  were  the  original  Commissioners: — The  Right  Hon.  L. 
O'Neill,  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin;  Most  Rev.  Dr.  McRory,  Lord 
Bishop  of  Down  and  Connor;  Right  Hon.  Sir  Horace  Plunkett, 
K.P.,  K.C.V.O.,  President  of  the  I.A.O.S.;  Messrs.  Stephen 
O'Mara,  Mayor  of  Limerick;  Frank  Daly,  Chairman  of  the  Cork 
Harbour  Commis,sioners ;  James  G.  Douglas,  Thomas  Johnson, 
James  McNeill  and  Miss  Louie  Bennett. 

This  Commission  was  not  only  representative  in  character, 
but  was  composed  of  persons  who,  it  was  felt,  were  specially  fitted 
to  deal  with  work  of  the  kind  contemplated.  Unfortunately,  owing 
to  the  conditions  that  prevailed  in  the  spring  of  1921,  the  Commis- 
sion was  reluctantly  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  no  reconstruc- 
tion work  could  be  then  attempted,  and  consequently,  prior  to  the 
Truce  of  July,  1921,  very  few^  loans  were  negotiated.  With  the 
Truce  it  became  possible  for  the  Commission  to  obtain  accurate 
information  as  to  the  ruin  wrought  and  the  possibility  of  making 
it  good.  Up  to  that  period  it  had  been  practically  impossible  to 
visit  the  devastated  areas,  and  no  detailed  inquiry  into  the  nature 
of  the  destruction  or  the  means  for  its  repair  could  be  undertaken. 
After  that  date,  however,  investigators  were  sent  into  every  county 
to  report  on  the  ruin  wrought,  and  the  measures  possible  for  its 
repair. 

Guided  by  their  architects  and  investigators,  the  Commission- 
ers proceeded  with  a  policy  of  reconstruction.  As  a  beginning  a 
sum  of  £100,000  was  set  aside  for  the  work.  Applications  were 
made  by  the  sufferers  for  advances  for  specific  purposes,  e.  g.,  to 
enable  them  to  repair  portions  of  their  houses  or  outbuildings,  to 
help  them  to  replace  destroyed  stocks  in  shops,  or  destroyed  farm 
machinery,  etc. 

The  method  adopted  by  the  Commissioners  in  dealing  with  ap- 
plications for  loans  was  as  follows: — A  business  committee  was 


38  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

appointed,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Johnston,  James  G.  Douglas,  James 
McNeill,  Professor  Purcell,  and  R.  J.  Mortished,  with  Dr.  Kennedy 
as  Secretary.  Applications  were  first  considered  by  this  Commit- 
tee, and  reported  on  to  the  Commission.  After  a  number  of  cases 
of  varying  character  had  ibeen  dealt  with  by  the  Commission,  and 
general  rules  of  guidance  laid  down,  the  business  committee  was 
given  power  to  deal  with  applications  for  loans  within  certain  defi- 
nite limits,  provided  they  came  within  the  general  rules  as  laid 
down.  Exceptional  cases  were  dealt  with  by  the  whole  Commis- 
sion, but  very  few  applications  for  large  sums  could  be  considered 
owing  to  the  want  of  adequate  funds. 

At  the  time  of  the  setting  up  of  the  Commission  it  was  antici- 
pated that  a  much  larger  sum  than  it  was  found  possible  to  allo- 
cate would  have  been  available,  and  at  least  £500,000  was  expected. 
Owing,  however,  to  the  long  period  that  intervened  between  the 
Truce  and  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  and  release  of  the  prisoners, 
and  to  the  consequent  long  period  during  which  ordinary  relief 
doles  had  to  be  continued,  the  sums  available  became  much  de- 
pleted. In  addition,  there  was  the  absolute  necessity  for  the  con- 
tinuance oif  relief  in  Belfast,  which  compelled  the  Executive  at  the 
final  allocation  of  the  funds  to  reserve  a  large  sum  for  this  pur- 
pose, with  the  result  that  it  was  found  impossible  to  provide  for 
reconstruction  on  the  scale  originally  contemplated. 

The  comparative  smallness  of  the  amount  availa'ble — in  all  the 
sums  allocated  to  this  purpose  amounted  to  £270,493,  10s  Od.— ^ 
forced  the  Commission  to  abandon  all  plans  for  larger  loans  and 
for  the  reconstruction  of  factories  and  works.  This  occasioned 
much  unavoidable  disappointment,  and  the  Commission  desires  to 
express  its  sincere  regret  to  those  who,  after  much  patient  waiting, 
found  that  their  requests  could  not  be  granted. 

In  granting  loans,  the  Commission  accepted  as  security  the 
decrees  for  compensation  obtained  by  the  victims  in  the  civil  courts. 
When  such  decrees  were  not  available — e.  g.,  in  martial  law  areas, 
where  such  cases  were  withdrawn  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil 
courts — advances  were  made  after  careful  examination  of  the  claims 
that  the  victims  would  have  made,  had  the  courts  been  open  to 
hear  their  cases.  The  borrower  undertook  to  repay  the  loan  in  full, 
if  and  when  compensation  was  granted  from  public  sources.  Al- 
ready a  Reparation  Commission  is  sitting,  and  the  White  Cross 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  39 

expects  to  have  most  of  the  money  advanced  repaid  by  this  Com- 
mission— in  fact,  a  few  of  the  loans  have  already  been  repaid,  and 
the  amounts  set  aside  for  the  work  of  relief  made  necessary  by  the 
need  in  Belfast.  The  reason  that  the  White  Cross  determined  to 
carry  out  its.  work  of  reconstruction  through  loans  was  because 
It  contemplated  that  any  settlement  between  Ireland  and  England 
would  involve,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  compen- 
sation from  public  sources  for  the  losses  sustained  in  the  course  of 
the  conflict. 

In  all  some  650  loans  were  granted ;  of  these  the  great  majority 
were  for  the  purpose  of  providing  shelter  for  homeless  people.  The 
sums  advanced  were  paid  in  instalments  as  the  work  of  rebuilding 
progressed. 

Some  idea  of  the  work  of  the  Commission,  and  of  its  relation 
to  the  general  relief  work  of  the  Irish  White  Cross,  may  be  gathered 
from  the  following  typical  cases,  as  reported  on  by  the  investigators 
for  the  purposes  of  the  Reconstruction  Commission : — 

(a)  "A  widow  with  one  daughter  and  two  sons.  The 
house,  together  with  furniture,  out-buildings,  ^nd,  their  con- 
tents— hay,  farm  implements,  etc. — destroyed  by  British  forces. 
The  family  are  living  in  a  ruined  stable.  They  ask  for  a  loan 
of  £400,  which  they  propose  to  use  in  putting  the  house  and 
necessary  outbuildings  in  repair  before  the  winter,  and  to  pro- 
vide the  necessary  implements  for  working  their  farm.  They 
were  comfortable,  suibstantial  farmers,  and  are  now]  reduced 
to  poverty."    A  loan  of  £300  was  granted. 

(b)  "The  dwellinghouse  and  furniture  entirely  destroyed 
by  the  military,  Since  then  the  father  has  lost  his  reason ; 
one  daughter  is  an  invalid;  one  son  is  in  prison,  and  three 
others  could  not  reside  at  home  through  fear  of  arrest.  The 
military  did  not  permit  the  neighbours  to  work  the  farm  in  the 
aibsence  of  the  sons.  One  man  who  did  soi  was  shot  and 
'bayoneted  by  Crown  forces.  A  loan  of  from  £300  to  £400 
would  be  necessary  to  re-roof  and  repair  the  house,  the  walls 
of  which  are  standing."    A  loan  of  £350  was  granted. 

(c)  "An  aged  man,  bent  double  with  rheumatism,  with  a 
wife,  two  daughters  and  son.  Their  dwellinghouse  was  blown 
up  in  May,  1921.    So  great  was  the  force  of  the  explosion  that 


40  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

the  wallsi  are  in  ruins,  in  some  places  to  the  very  foundations. 
There  is  immediate  necessity  to  provide  these  people  with 
shelter  for  the  winter."  Loan  of  £300  was  granted, 
(d)  "A  co-operative  creamery,  used  by  a  number  of  small 
farmers  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  its  machinery  rendered  use- 
less. The  farmers  have  suffered  individually  during  the  terror, 
and  are  consequently  unable  to  provide  the  funds  for  its  re- 
construction. A  decree  for  £3,000  compensation  has  been 
granted  by  the  courts,  but  there  is  no  immediate  prospect  of 
payment,  and  the  loss  of  the  creamery  is  a  very  severe  blow 
to  the  economic  welfare  of  the  community  generally.  A  loan 
of  £1,000  would  enable  them  to  re-start  the  creamery,  and 
would  relieve  the  White  Cross  of  the  necessity  of  granting 
personal  relief  to  many  who  at  present  are  in  receipt  of  weekly 
doles."    Loan  of  £1,000  granted. 

(e)  "A  large  firm,  employing  a  large  number  of  hands,  was 
practically  completely  destroyed.  A  decree  for  £45,000  has 
been  granted  by  the  courts.  It  is  estimated  that  a  sum  of 
£13,000  would  enable  the  owners  to-reopen  their  business, 
and  thus  give  employment  to  very  many,  who  otherwise  must 
be  supported  by  the  Irish  White  Cross." 
In  this  case  the  White  Cross  advanced  £3,000,  and  the  remain- 
ing £  10,000  was  borrowed  from  the  bank. 

All  of  these  cases,  except  the  last,  may  be  taken  as  typical,  and 
hundreds  of  similar  cases  might  be  cited.  The  last  is  one  of  the 
few  cases  in  which  the  Commission  was  able  to  sanction  a  large 
loan. 

In  Appendix  E  will  be  found  a  schedule  setting  forth  the 
geographical  distribution  of  the  money  expended  in  the  work  of 
reconstruction. 

[N.B. — In  addition  to  the  general  investigation  made  for  the 
purposes  of  the  Reconstrucion  Commission,  a  special  detailed  sur- 
vey of  the  material  destruction  done  throughout  the  country  was 
carried  out  at  the  request  of  the  late  Mr.  Collins,  who  asked  for 
this  information  during  the  peace  negotiations  with  the  British 
Government.] 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  41 

C— SPECIALISED  FORMS  OF  RELIEF. 

(a)  Feeding  of  School  Children. 

(b)  Infant  Welfare  Societies. 

(c)  Provisions  of  means  of  employment  through  work- 
rooms or  otherwise  where  industries  had  ibeen  destroyed,  with 
the  object  of  affording  employment  to  persons  who  would 
otherwise  have  to  receive  personal  relief. 

(d)  Aid  given  where  economic  distress  prevailed,  though 
not  directly  traceable  to  the  action  of  Crown  forces,  but  indi- 
rectly connected  with  such  action,  e.g.,  in  isolated  areas  such 
as  Dingle.  Also  in  many  districts  along  the  Western  seaboard 
— Donegal,  Mayo,  Connemara,  Kerry. 

(e)  Children's  Fund. 

(f)  Grants  of  comparatively  large  sums  to  children's  hos- 
pitals and  hostels  for  persons  wounded  or  suffering  from  shock, 
who,  in  the  straitened  circumstances  of  such  hospitals  and 
houses,  due  to  the  war,  would  be  otherwise  uncared  for. 
The  following  are  the  amounts  expended  on  these  various  forms 
of  specialised  relief: — 

(a)  To  the  feeding  of  school  children  £3,386  17s.  Od.  was 
devoted.  By  way  of  a  beginning,  a  contribution  of  £1,000  was 
made  to  the  Dublin  Corporation  School  Meals  Committee. 
Later  the  Society  authorised  that  Committee  to  provide  the 
children  of  necessitous  parents  with  meals  during  the  school 
holidays,  undertaking  to  be  responsible  for  the  cost,  which  was 
estimated  to  amount  to  £991.  It  also  provided  a  sum  of 
£500  for  improvement  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  food 
supplied  where  such  food  was  admittedly  unsatisfactory.  This 
was  a  most  needed  action,  inasmuch  as  the  only  food  it  was 
found  possible  to  supply  in  many  of  the  schools  in  the  slum 
areas  was  frequently  only  an  unsubstantial  meal  of  bread  and 
cocoa — a  meal  wholly  inadequate  for  growing  children  who 
came  to  school  hungry  from  their  poverty-stricken  homes.  The 
balance  was  expended  in  other  areas  where  similar  need  for 
such  relief  existed.  In  addition  to  the  figures  mentioned  above 
as  spent  on  School  Meals,  a  further  sum  of  £13,000  has  been 
allocated  since  31st  March,  1922,  for  the  feeding  and  clothing  of 


42  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

School  Children  in  the  poverty-stricken  areas  along  the  west 
coast,  where  through  the  Society  clothes  have  been  supplied 
to  some  2,000  children. 

(b)  To  the  support  of  Infant  Welfare  Societies  the  sum 
of  £359  10s.  Od.  was  contributed.  Through  this  sum  milk  was 
enabled  to  be  supplied  for  the  infants  of  necessitous  parents, 
and  provision  made  for  the  wants  of  expectant  and  nursing 
mothers  in  needy  circumstances.  These  societies  are  main- 
tained by  charitable  subscriptions,  supplemented  (as  in  Dublin) 
by  grants  of  small  sums  from  the  Corporation,  Owing  to  the 
dislocation  of  the  finances  of  the  local  authorities,  these  grants, 
much  as  they  were  needed,  could  not  be  paid.  The  grants 
made  through  the  Irish  White  Cross  were  an  important  factor 
in  allowing  them  to  continue  their  beneficient  work,  and  cer- 
tainly contributed  to  the  preservation  of  many  a  child  or  mother 
who,  without  them,  doubtless,  would  be  among  the  victims  of 
the  Irish  war. 

(c)  On  the  financing  of  efforts  to  provide  employment  in 
areas  where  industries  had  been  destroyed,  the  sum  of  £4,608 
15s.  Id.  was  spent.  Of  this  sum  £2,046  13s.  2d.  was  devoted 
to  the  knitting  industry  in  Balbriggan,  where  the  destruction 
of  a  hosiery  factory  had  left  a  large  numiber  of  persons  without 
employment;  £72  3s,  3d,  was  spent  on  the  provision  of  means 
for  the  continuance  of  cottage  industries  where  the  former 
plant  had  been  destroyed ;  £2,489  18s.  8d.  was  spent  on  financ- 
ing workroom  schemes.  In  these  workrooms  employment  was 
afforded  to  many  who  otherwise  would  have  been  included 
among  the  recipients  of  Irish  White  Cross  relief  in  the  form 
of  weekly  doles.  Moreover,  many  dependents  of  those  who 
had  lost  their  lives,  or  were  otherwise  sufferers  in  the  conflict, 
were  enabled  through  them  to  learn  a  trade,  which  now 
renders  them  self-supporting. 

The  workrooms  in  Dublin  were  under  the  direction  of  a  Com- 
mittee, the  Chairman  of  which  was  Madame  Gonne-McBride.  They 
started  with  some  10  workers;  this  number  gradually  increased  to 
about  70.  All  were  paid  the  standard  Trade  Union  wage  obtaining 
in  their  particular  occupation,  and  worked  under  the  usual  Trade 
Union  conditions.     The  work  done  in  these  rooms  embraced  all 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  43 

departments  of  needlework  in  connection  with  women's  and  chil- 
dren's and  youth's  garments.  Expert  cutters  were  employed,  and 
the  work  turned  out  compared  well  in  respect  of  finish  and  general 
workmanship  with  anything  of  the  same  type  produced  in  the 
regular  business  concerns  of  the  city.  At  the  Aonach — a  Christmas 
fair  and  exhibition  of  Irish  products— held  at  the  Dublin  Mansion 
House  in  December,  1921,  the  display  from  the  Dublin  White  Cross 
Workroms  attracted  much  attention. 

Besides  those  who  found  employment  in  the  rooms  while  re- 
siding in  Dublin,  some  of  the  unemployed  embroidresses  and  seam- 
stresses in  the  centres  of  the  cottage  industries  were  provided 
through  them  with  work  in  their  homes,  where  they  embroidered 
the  finished  articles  sent  to  them  from  Dublin,  receiving  the  usual 
rate  of  pay. 

(d)  In  many  parts  of  the  western  seaboard,  from  Donegal 
in  the  North  to  Kerry  in  the  South,  severe  economic  distress 
is  a  periodical  visitant,  owing  to  the  infertility  of  the  soil  and 
the  lack  of  those  openings  for  labour  that  elsewhere  find  em- 
ployment for  large  numbers  of  the  population.  The  problem 
presented  by  those  areas  has  long  occupied  the  attention  of 
statesmen  and  social  workers.  They  are  officially  known  as 
"Congested  Districts,"  after  the  title  of  the  Act  of  the  British 
Parliament  of  1891,  which  made  some  attempt  to'  grapple  with 
the  difficulties  arising  from  the  almost  chronic  distress  that 
prevails  within  them. 

At  the  best,  the  measures  hitherto  taken  have  ibeen  no  better 
than  palliative ;  distress  recurs  with  an  almost  fatal  periodicity,  and 
the  menace  of  famine  is  never  far  distant.  The  lives  of  the  inhabi- 
tants are  a  never-ending  struggle  with  a  nature  that,  bounteous  in 
the  scenic  splendour  of  sea  and  land  and  sky,  is  niggard  in  all 
that  relates  to  the  necessaries  of  life.  For  of  the  people  of  these 
districts  the  poet's  words  are  true  in  their  most  literal  sense — 
they  "force  a  churlish  soil  for  scanty  bread." 

The  small  holdings  on  which  the  people  are  crowded  are  in 
general  of  the  type  described  as  uneconomic,  and  the  majority  of 
them  do  not  provide  even  the  physical  basis  of  a  decent  standard 
of  living,  much  less  of  comfort.    The  potato  crop,  the  main  source 


44  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

of  sustenance  of  the  people,  is  ever  liable  to  failure,  and  when  this 
happens  starvation  comes  near — starvation  in  the  actual  sense  of 
the  word,  the  painful,  lingering  death  from  hunger.  A  few  local 
industries  are  carried  out  as  a  supplement  to  such  agriculture  as  the 
nature  of  the  soil  renders  possible,  e.g.,  kelp  burning,  the  cutting 
and  saving  of  turf  for  sale  outside  the  borders,  fishing  on  a  small 
scale  along  the  storm-swept  coasts,  here  and  there  the  weaving  of 
homespun  yarns. 

Even  at  the  best  of  times  a  large  proportion  of  those  people 
would  suffer  from  hunger,  were  it  not  that  their  scanty  resources 
are  eked  out  by  the  wages  the  younger  people  earn  by  migratory 
labour  in  the  agricultural  districts  in  other  parts  of  Ireland,  and  in 
England  and  Scotland.  During  the  time  of  conflict  this  supplement 
to  their  resources  was  no  longer  possible,  and,  moreover,  some  parts 
of  these  areas  were  subjected,  as  part  of  the  terror,  to  a  rigorous 
blockade,  which  isolated  them  from  the  world  without.  These 
factors,  combined  with  one  of  the  periodical  failures  of  the  potato 
crop,  reduced  some  parts  of  these  districts,  notably  Connemara  and 
Donegal,  to  actual  famine.  Men  and  women  and  children  were 
actually  dying  from  want  of  food,  aggravated  by  disease,  that 
always  accompanies  such  conditions  of  life ;  many  of  these  victims, 
too,  had  suffered  through  the  killings,  maimings,  burnings,  the 
ordinary  incidents  of  the  terror  that  had  swept  through  the  whole 
country. 

There  was  no  question  but  that  relief  work  in  those  afflicted 
areas  was  a  duty  proper  for  the  Irish  White  Cross  to  undertake. 
Careful  investigation  was  made,  and  a  sum  of  £20,000  was  allo- 
cated for  the  provision  of  the  barest  necessities  of  life — ^food  and 
clothing  and  seed — for  the  victims  of  niggard  nature  and  the  inci- 
dents of  the  Irish  war.  With  this  sum,  supplemented  by  funds 
raised  throughout  the  country  by  charitable  institutions  for  this 
specific  purpose,  supplies  of  food — potatoes  and  meal — 'were  made 
available  for  the  starving  people  at  variousj  distributing  centres. 
Besides  this,  special  provision  was  made  for  the  care  of  the  chil- 
dren, and  £13,000  was  devoted,  as  already  mentioned,  to  the  feed- 
ing and  clothing  of  children  in  the  schools. 

It  is  true  that  the  sum  allocated  to  meet  the  distress  in  those 
regions  was  but  small,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  White 
Cross  funds  were  then  practically  exhausted  in  relieving  the  wants 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  45 

of  the  people  throughout  the  country.  Small  as  the  sum  was, 
nevertheless  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  it  has  preserved  the  lives 
of  many  who,  without  it,  would  have  died  from  famine  and  its 
attendant  pestilence. 

(e)  £150,000  has  been  set  aside  as  a  "Children's  Fund," 
to  provide  for  children  whose  parents  have  been  killed  in  the 
course  of  the  struggle,  and  have  left  them  unprovided  for. 
This  sum  is  being  administered  by  a  special  committee,  which 
is  acting  under  the  supervision  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Irish 
White  Cross.  The  general  intention  is  to  provide  for  the  edu- 
cation and  upbringing  of  these  orphans,  in  a  manner  that  shall 
be,  at  least,  not  inferior  to  that  in  which  they  would  have  been 
brought  up  had  their  fathers  been  left  to  them. 

The  Committee  has  been  investigating  the  circumstances  of 
those  "orphans  of  the  war."  In  Appendix  F.  will  be  found  the 
names  of  the  memibers  of  the  Committee.  The  task  that  devolves 
upon  it  is  one  that  calls  for  care  and  judgment  ;i  to  those  that  know 
them  the  names  of  its  memibers  are  a  sufficient  warrant  that  those 
qualities  will  not  be  lacking  when  they  come  to  close  quarters  with 
their  difficult  and  delicate  task. 

(/)  On  Children's  Hospitals  £3,673  16s.  4d.  was  ex- 
pended— this  apart  altogether  from  sums  paid  to  hospitals  for 
the  care  of  wounded  persons,  which  payments  came  under  the 
head  of  "personal  relief." 

Under  this  head  may  be  mentioned  the  women  and  children 
suffering  from  shock  or  other  nervous  and  physical  disorders  oc- 
casioned by  the  wracking  experiences  many  of  them  underwent  in 
the  course  of  the  war.  In  many  parts  of  Ireland  the  common  in- 
cidents of  the  terror,  the  indiscriminate  shootings,  the  explosions, 
the  irruptions  of  bands  of  ruffians  into  houses  at  dead  of  night,  the 
burnings  of  homes  and  driving  of  the  inhabitants  into  the  darkness, 
often  clad  only  in  their  night  attire,  was  frequently  attended,  when 
actual  death  did  not  ensue,  by  consequences  very  serious  to  the 
mental  and  physical  health  of  the  victims  of  these  outrages.  Chil- 
dren and  women,  especially  expectant  or  nursing  mothers,  suffered 
greatly  in  health,  many  of  them,  indeed,  ibeing  permanently  injured. 
For  the  worst  cases  it  wasi  found  necessary  to  provide  a  centre 


46  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

where  they  would  be  cared  for,  andl  new  and  quieter  surroundings 
in  which  they  might  forget  the  terrors  to  which  they  had  'been 
exposed. 

An  ideal  place  for  recuperation  was  found  in  the  Convent  Hos- 
tel at  Baldoyle  near  Dublin.  The  Irish  White  Cross  undertook  the 
responsilbility  of  paying  the  expenses  of  those  who  were  sent  to  the 
Hostel.  Since  it  was  found  that  the  patients  were  greatly  benefited 
by  their  stay  there,  it  was  decided  to  provide  the  funds  necessary 
to  enlarge  the  equipment  of  the  Hostel,  and  so  make  possible  the 
accommodation  of  larger  numbers  of  patients.  The  unanimous 
testimony  of  these — patients  or  visitors — who  are  in  a  position  to 
speak  of  the  effects  on  the  suffers  of  their  stay  there,  is  that  the 
money  expended  was  expended  to  good  purpose,  and  that  many  are 
now  restored  to  health  who,  without  the  treatment  they  were  thus 
enabled  to  receive,  might  be  permanent  invalids. 

Another  institution  helped  by  the  Irish  White  Cross,  to  the 
great  benefit  of  the  suffering  children  of  the  poor  of  Dublin,  was 
the  Infant  Hospital  at  Charlemont  Street,  Dublin.  To  it  the  So- 
ciety contributed  the  sum  of  £1,600,  to  enable  the  Board  to  make 
such  improvements  and  extensions  as  the  growing  calls  upon  it 
rendered  necessary. 

A  grant  of  £1,000  was  also  made  to  the  Children*s  Hospital, 
Temple  Street,  Dublin,  to  assist  the  Hospital  to  provide  meals  for 
children. 

SECTION  VI. 

CHECKS  ON  THE  EXPENDITURE  OF  THE  FUNDS  FOR 

RELIEF. 

From  the  beginning  of  its  operations  the  Irish  White  Cross, 
through  its  Standing  Committee,  took  steps  to  ensure  the  careful 
management  of  the  funds  entrusted  to  it  for  administration.  Its 
books  were  constantly  audited  by  a  firm  of  public  Auditors,  and 
receipts  and  disbursements  recorded  and  checked,  so  that  at  any 
moment  it  was  possible  to  ascertain  how  its  finances  stood. 

On  the  Central  Office  in  Dublin  fell  the  task  of  examining  all 
applications  for  personal  relief  from  all  part  of  Ireland  outside  Cork 
and  Belfast,  where  special  local  committees  acted  for  their  re- 
spective areas,  as  Dublin  acted  for  the  rest  of  Ireland  receiving 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  47 

through  the  Dublin  offices  the  sums  needed  for  the  relief  work 
conducted  by  them.  Even  in  these  areas  all  loans  for  reconstruc- 
tion work  were  made  by  the  Central  Office,  to  which  applications 
were  sent  direct,  the  sums  advanced  being  thence  sent  to  the  appli- 
cants direct. 

As  has  been  said  in  a  previous  section,  applications'  for  per- 
sonal relief  originated  with  the  parish  communities,  who,  guided 
by  their  knowledge  of  local  circumstances,  were  in  a  position  to 
guarantee  the  genuineness  of  all  applications  sent  iby  them  to  the 
central  office.  As  a  general  rule,  it  was  found  that  the  voucher 
of  these  committees  could  be  relied  on,  for  their  members  were 
persons  of  responsible  positions,  anxious  to  conserve  as  much  as 
possible  the  funds  available  for  relief  of  the  needs  of  the  Irish 
people  in  general,  and  not  merely  of  those  in  their  own  localities. 

When  the  Truce  of  July,  1921,  made  it  possible  for  the  central 
office  to  examine,  through  its  investigators,  the  working  of  the 
various  committees,  it  was  found  that  in  general  but  little  change 
had  to  be  made  in  the  recommendations  they  had  sent  forward. 

The  Central  Committee  fixed  as  its  standard  scale  for  personal 
relief  a  weekly  sum  of  10s.  for  each  adult,  and  5s.  for  each  child 
under  16  years  of  age.  In  certain  cases  variation  was  permitted 
in  this  rate,  e.  g.,  where  the  person  relieved  was  an  adult  living 
alone,  an  increase  in  the  rate  could  be  made,  as  it  was  clear  that 
what  would  suffice  for  the  support  of  such  a  sufferer  when  living 
with  his  family  would  be  inadequate  when  he  lived  alone.  Again, 
where  sufferers  had  some  resources  left,  but  inadequate  for  their 
support,  the  rates  allowed  were  less  than  the  standard. 

The  parish  committee,  in  making  application  for  relief  for  the 
sufferers,  filled  in  special  forms,  on  which  were  entered  their  names 
and  all  relevant  circumstances,  which  forms  were  then  transmitted 
to  Dublin,  to  be  decided  on  by  the  relief  su'b-committee  there.  The 
applications  were  renewable  monthly,  and  the  necessary  funds  sent 
to  each  committee  without  delay.  The  parish  secretary  paid  to 
each  person  the  sum  granted  to  him,  and  dbtained  his  signed 
receipt,  which  was  retained  for  inspection  by  the  agents  of  the 
central  office.  Thus  every  precaution  was  taken  to  ensure  that 
there  should  be  no  possibility  of  fraud  or  other  abuse  in  connec- 
tion with  the  money  allocated  for  this  work  of  relief. 


48  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

With  regard  to  the  work  of  the  Reconstruction  Commission, 
advances  for  reconstruction  were  in  no  case  made  without  careful 
investigation  by  experts  (engineers  and  architects)  into  all  the 
circumstances.  Each  applicant  had  not  only  to  show  that  his  case 
came  within  the  definition  of  what  was  a  White  Cross  case;  he 
had  also  to  specify  the  purpose  for  which  he  sought  the  advance, 
and  to  satisfy  the  experts  who  advised  the  Reconstruction  Com- 
mission. It  was  part  of  the  duty  of  these  experts  to  advise  appli- 
cants as  to  the  best  manner  in  which  the  advance,  if  made,  could 
be  employed,  and  where  houses  had  to  be  repaired  or  replaced 
they  took  into  account  all  the  circumstances  in  relation  to  existing 
portions  of  the  ruined  buildings  and  to  local  laibour  and  material 
that  would  allow  of  the  work  being  done  with  greatest  economy. 
In  considering  each  application,  the  Reconstruction  Commission 
gave  special  attention  to  possible  economic  advantage  to  the  dis- 
trict that  might  result  from  granting  the  advance,  e.  g.,  if  the  appli- 
cant were  enaibled  thereby  to  resume  business,  work  would  be 
available  for  persons  who  would  otherwise  have  to  be  supported 
by  White  Cross  funds.  Here,  too,  every  possible  precaution  was 
taken  to  ensure  the  right  use  of  the  funds  available  for  this  branch 
of  the  Society's  efforts,  and  it  cannot  be  questioned  that  the  work 
of  the  Reconstruction  Commission  was  the  most  permanently  use- 
ful part  of  its  activities,  and  that  it  is  a  monument  that  will  last 
long  after  the  Society  has  ceased  to  function. 

As  regards  the  sum  expended  on  relief  work  of  other  kinds, 
such  as  the  grants  for  the  feeding  of  children  and  in  aid  of  schemes 
for  the  promotion  of  employment,  the  contributions  to  the  Prison- 
ers Dependents'  Fund,  etc.,  they  were  given  only  after  the  closest 
investigation  by  the  Society  into  the  circumstances  in  each  case. 
As  they  were  distributed  through  public  or  quasi-public  bodies, 
there  was  ample  reason  for  knowing  that  they  were  devoted  solely 
to  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  allocated  by  the  Society. 

No  complaint  has  ever  been  made  that  any  money  of  the  Irish 
White  Cross  has  been  misapplied,  in  the  sense  that  it  has  failed 
to  reach  those  for  whom  it  was  granted.  It  is,  therefore,  only  due 
to  the  committees,  central  and  local,  and  to  the  persons  concerned 
in  making  these  grants,  or  handing  them  on  to  those  for  whom 
they  were  intended,  to  put  it  on  record  that  they  have  shown  them- 
selves animated  by  a  high  sense  of  duty  in  accord  with  their  posi- 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  49 

tions  as  trustees,  in  a  certain  sense,  of  the  public  weal.  Special 
mention  is  here  due  one  of  the  unselfish  and  untiring  labours  of  the 
many  women  throughout  Ireland,  and  particularly  of  those  of  the 
Dublin  Committee  of  Relief,  who  were  unsparing  of  time  and  toil 
in  bringing  relief  to  the  aflflicted.  In  a  difficult  and  dangerous  time 
these  persons  took  upon  themselves  the  task  of  helping  to  relieve 
thousands  of  sufferers,  the  great  majority  of  them  without  fee  or 
reward  of  any  kind  other  than  the  consciousness  of  duty  done,  and 
if  the  sufferings  of  their  countrymen  have  been  alleviated  by  the 
work  of  the  Irish  White  Cross — as  they  have  been — it  is  largely 
due  to  the  devotion  of  so  many  voluntary  workers  in  the  cause  of 
charity. 


SECTION  VII. 

TRIBUTES  TO  THE  WORK  OF  THE  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS 
AND  OF  THE  AMERICAN  COMMITTEE  FOR  RELIEF 
IN  IRELAND. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  famous  letter  from  his 
late  Holiness,  Pope  Benedict  XV.,  to  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Logue, 
accompanying  a  munificent  contribution  to  the  funds  of  the 
Society : — 

"We  have  heard  with  pleasure  that  you,  our  beloved  son, 
impelled  by  the  charity  that  suffers  no  delay,  and  commands  us  to 
lay  aside  all  differences  of  parties  and  opinions,  and  bring  aid  to 
the  afflicted  and  the  needy,  have  been  at  pains  to  establish,  and 
zealous  to  foster,  an  association  known  as  the  White  Cross,  the 
object  of  which  is  to  collect  funds  for  the  relief  of  those  in  distress 
in  Ireland  through  the  devastation  of  property  or  other  acts  of 
violence.  It  is  no  less  a  source  of  joy  to  us  that  many  others,  dif- 
fering in  religion  and  nationality,  have  united  with  you  in  this 
union  of  love,  and  that  to  your  united  appeal  great  numbers  of 
generous  men,  not  merely  from  Ireland,  but  from  other  nations, 
have  given  an  enthusiastic  response.  And  ...  we  forward,  as 
a  token  of  our  affection  for  your  people,  so  hard-pressed,  200,000 
Italian  lire,  and  we  trust  that  this  sum  will  do  something  to  relieve 
their  distress." 


50  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

The  Irish  Hierarchy,  meeting  at  Maynooth,  June  22,  1921,  in 
a  pronouncement  dealing  with  the  general  condition  of  affairs  in 
Ireland,  expressed  warm  approval  of  the  White  Cross,  and  ex- 
horted the  priests  and  people  to  give  the  Society  their  support. 

The  part  of  the  pronouncement  dealing  with  the  White  Cross 
is  as  follows: — 

"Owing  to  the  barbarous  destruction  of  life  and  property 
many  thousands  have  been  reduced  to  a  condition  of  pitiable  desti- 
tution. To  alleviate  distress  the  White  Cross  Association,  con- 
sisting of  members  differing  in  religious  and  political  views,  has 
been  formed,  and  is  doing  excellent  work. 

"We  exhort  our  priests  and  people  to  subscribe  to  its  funds 
as  generously  as  their  means  will  allow. 

"We  avail  ourselves  of  this  occasion  to  express  our  gratitude 
to  all  who  have  come  to  our  assistance,  and  especially  to  the  Am- 
erican people  for  their  inexhaustible  benevolence." 

The  following  are  messages  sent  by  members  of  the  Irish 
Hierarchy  to  the  Society  (September,  1921),  commending  it  for  its 
beneficient  work: — 

*Tt  affords  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  bear  grateful  testimony 
to  the  splendid  worlq  for  the  relief  of  distress  in  Ireland  by  the 
clergy  and  people  of  the  United  States. 

"Much  of  the  money  for  the  Irish  White  Cross  has  been  sent 
through  me;  and  each  remittance  left  me  in  delighted  admiration 
of  the  lavish  charity  of  the  American  people.  As  a  specimen  of 
this  magnificent  charity  I  received  up  to  £25,000  from  the  Arch- 
diocese of  Philadelphia  alone.  The  remittances  from  the  other 
Dioceses  were  on  a  corresponding  scale." 

(Signed), 

►P  MICHAEL,  CARDINAL  LOGUE. 


"Ireland  owes  an  everlasting  ddbt  of  gratitude  to  the  American 
people  for  the  practical  sympathy  and  marvelous  generosity  with 
which  they  have  subscribed  such  large  sums  to  the  White  Cross 
for  reconstruction  in  Ireland,  and  particularly  for  helping  so  ma- 
terially the  re-establishing  and  building  up  of  industries  obliged 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  51 

to  close  clown,  upon  which  industries  depend  to  such  a  degree  the 
work  and  life  of  our  people." 

►fi  EDWARD  J.  BYRNE, 
Archbishop-elect  of  Dublin. 


"The  Irish  people  are  deeply  grateful  to  the  generous  people 
of  America,  who  have  so  largely  contributed  to  the  Irish  White 
Cross.  The  need  has*  been  and  still  is  great.  Many  valuable  lives 
have  been  lost,  towns  have  been  wrecked,  happy  homes  have  been 
destroyed,  creameries  have  been  burned,  bread-winners  have  been 
imprisoned,  many  people  have  'been  thrown  out  of  employment. 
Like  other  parts  of  the  country,  the  Archdiocese  of  Cashel  has  suf- 
fered  severely. 

"Thanks  to  the  beneficence  of  the  White  Cross  much  distress 
has  been  relieved  amongst  us.  Donations  have  been  given  to  de- 
serving ones ;  loans  have  been  granted  for  the  rebuilding  of  homes. 
The  Archdiocese  has  contributed  generously  to  the  Irish  White 
Cross,  but  without  the  aid  of  our  American  friends  it  is  impos- 
sible to  meet  all  urgent  needs." 

(Signed) 

,|<  J.  M.  HARTY, 
Archbishop  of  Cashel. 


"The  distribution  of  White  Cross  funds  has  given  much  relief 
in  this  Archdiocese.  The  people  are  most  grateful  for  American 
generosity." 

(Signed), 

►{^  THOMAS  P.  GILMARTIN, 

Archbishop  of  Tuam. 


"The  White  Cross  has  worked  admirably  in  relieving  the 
special  distress  of  these  trying  times.  There  was  not  so  much 
need  for  its  solicitude  in  this  diocese  as  in  some|  other  parts  of 
Ireland,  but  what  it  had  to  do  it  did  with  earnest  care  after 
thorough  investigation,  well  appreciating  the  urgency  of  the  call. 


52  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

In  the  long  record  of  her  sympathy  with  Ireland  never  did  Amer- 
ica show  herself  more  generous  than  during  this  year.  A  strong 
committee  of  old  colonists  stock  came  over  from  the  States  to 
report  on  the  want  and  misery  caused  by  devastation  and  imprison- 
ment. The  advent  of  the  highly  influential  body  drew  at  once  a 
warm  response  from  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  American  people, 
and  since  then  a  stream  of  generous  American  aid  has  never  ceased 
to  flow.  Until  our  nation  is  well  on  its  feet  the  assistance  will  be 
greatly  needed.  May  Providence  ever  give  and  preserve  to  Amer- 
ica the  iplenty  that  enables  the  great  Republic  to  stand  by  every 
people  in  their  day  of  need." 

(Signed), 

1^  PATRICK  O'DONNELL, 
Bishop  of  Raphoe. 


"In  the  hour  of  our  need  our  country,  yielding  to  a  natural 
impulse,  has  even  in  the  recent  past  made  her  appeal  to  one  nation 
above  and  'before  every  other,  and  at  no  time  has  she  known  that 
great  nation  to  turn  a  deaf  ear.  Ever  since  the  rise  of  the  great 
Republic  of  the  West  Ireland  has  been  bound  to  the  United  States 
by  a  bond  of  friendship,  of  gratitude  and  unfailing  affection.  And 
surely  there  never  has  been  an  occasion  in  the  past  which  called  for 
a  display  of  those  feelings  so  loudly  and  so  eloquently  as  do  the 
most  recent  benefactions  of  the  American  people.  Here,  in  our 
own  diocese  of  Kerry,  our  persecuted  people  have  good  reason  to 
remember  and  be  grateful  for  the  timely  help  which  has  enabled 
not  a  few  of  them  to  keep  body  and  soul  together,  after  they  had 
seen  their  homes  reduced  to  ashes,  their  women  ill-treated,  their 
men  folk  cruelly  done  to  death.  And  even  now,  in  time  of  truce, 
through  the  actual  ill-usage  has,  for  the  most  part,  come  to  an  end, 
the  consequences  of  past  ill-usage  and  persecution  still  remain.  In 
many  parts  of  our  diocese,  especially  along  the  seaboard,  distress 
is  rife,  and,  but  for  the  assistance  rendered  by  the  American  Com- 
mittee for  Relief  in  Ireland  through  the  agency  of  the  Irish  White 
Cross,  starvation  in  many  cases  seemed  absolutely  inevitable.  Dur- 
ing the  past  terrible  year  fishing  communities  have  found  it  utterly 
impossible  to  ply  their  trade.  Only  at  the  peril  of  their  lives  could 
men  venture  to  sea.    All  forms  of  transport  were  held  up.     And 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  53 

even  when  railway  transport  was  again  restored,  the  charges  were 
so  exorbitant  as  to  make  any  profit  impossible.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
feared  that  the  coming  winter  will  find  our  poor  people  utterly 
unprepared  to  meet  the  severities  of  that  season,  and  charitably 
persons  who  have  gone  into  the  homes  of  our  poeple,  and  made 
themselves  thoroughly  acquainted  with  their  dire  need,  are  con- 
vinced that,  unless  effective  and  timely  measures  are  concerted 
and  help  secured,  the  results  for  our  poor  people  will  be  most  de- 
plorable." 

(Signed), 

.^  CHARLES  O'SULLIVAN, 
Bishop  of  Kerry. 


"We  are  very  grateful  for  American  aid." 

(Signed), 


►P  LAURENCE  GAUGHRAN, 
Bishop  of  Meath. 


"The  White  Cross  is  doing  excellent  and  much-needed  work 
in  this  Diocese  of  Ossory  in  relieving  distress  caused  by  the  recent 
disturbed  condition  of  the  country.  For  this  Ireland  must  feel  ever 
grateful  to  their  countrymen  in  America,  and  to  the  kind-hearted 
and  generous  people  generally  of  the  United  States." 

►f.  ABRAHAM  BROWNRIGG, 

Bishop  of  Ossory. 


"I  have  advised  all  the  Priests  of  this  Diocese  to  establish  a 
Branch  of  the  White  Cross  in  their  several  parishes.    .    .     . 

"We  in  Ireland  are  indebted  to  charitable,  noble  America  for 
what  success  we  have  been  able  to  command  up  to  the  present, 
and  what  we  hope  we  shall  achieve  in  the  future.    I  offer  her  my 


54  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

high  appreciation  and  heartfelt  thanks,  and  ipray  she  may  ever  be 
the  happy  nation  that  she  is,  and  the  Teacher  of  Europe,  as  well 
as  its  earthly  saviour." 

(Signed), 

^  J.  HOARE, 
Bishop  of  Ardagh  and  Clonmacnoise. 


"What  America  has  done  for  relief  of  distress  is  gratefully 
appreciated  here." 

(Signed), 

^  PATRICK  FINEGAN, 
Bishop  of  Kilmore. 


"In  union  with  all  the  other  Irish  Bishops,  assembled  in  gen- 
eral meeting  last  June,  I  have  expressed  the  warmest  commenda- 
tion of  the  White  Cross  for  its  wise  and  honest  administration  of 
the  charitable  funds  entrusted  to  it  for  distribution.  Experience 
adds  to  my  appreciation  of  its  work.  The  White  Cross  has  still 
much  charitable  work  to  do,  and  is  doing  it  from  week  to  week. 
The  destitution  in  Ireland,  mainly  the  result  of  recent  awful  hap- 
penings, is  still  widespread.  The  generous  American  people  have 
found  in  the  White  Cross  a  safe  and  efficient  agency  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  their  magnificent  charity  to  the  much-suffering  Irish 
poor." 

(Signed), 

^  ROBERT  BROWNE, 
4.  Bishop  of  Cloyne. 


"In  a  brief  message  I  cannot  adequately  express  my  apprecia- 
tion of,  and  gratitude  for,  the  generous  and  constant  help  extended 
by  our  friends  in  America  to  the  Catholic  people  of  this  Diocese  of 
Dromore.  Victims  of  insensate  fanaticism  and  bigotry,  driven 
from  their  means  of  livelihood  thirteen  months  ago,  and  still  ex- 
cluded from  it  by  Orange  mobs,  hundreds  of  workers  and  their 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  55 

families  have  been  saved  from  starvation  by  means  of  the  contri- 
butions received  from  America.  At  times  the  resources  seemed 
precarious,  though  they  never  failed.  Now  all  anxiety  is  removed 
through  the  well-organised  methods  of  the  White  Cross." 

►f.  EDWARD  MULHERN, 

Bishop  of  Dromore. 


"The  years  1920  and  1921  will  be  years  ever  memorable  in  our 
history  for  the  unavailing  efforts  of  a  mighty  power  to  crush  in 
a  sea  of  blood  and  in  red  ruin  Ireland's  just  aspiration  for  liberty, 
but  more  memorable  still  for  the  effective  measures  taken  by  the 
great  liberty-loving  people  of  America  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of 
the  struggle,  to  assuage  the  sorrow  of  the  sufferers,  and  to  undo, 
so  far  as  possible,  the  havoc  wrought.  Ireland's  heroic  fight  for 
freedom  appealed  mightily  to  the  great  heart  of  America,  and  won 
a  noble  response  in  eloquent  advocacy  of  our  cause,  in  sustained 
practical  sympathy  with  our  aims,  and  in  unstinted  support  for 
our  sufferers. 

"It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  need  and  value  of  the  relief 
which  American  aid,  so  generously  given  to  the  White  Cross, 
brought  to  the  many  thousands  despoiled  of  their  means  of  exist- 
ence, and  rendered  homeless  and  houseless  by  the  ruthless  methods 
employed  against  them;  and  to  those  others — many  thousands — 
denied  even  the  right  to  work,  unless  at  the  sacrifice  of  their  re- 
ligious and  national  convictions. 

"Every  Irish  heart  that  beats  true  to  the  cause  of  Irish  liberty, 
every  heart  which  is  not  dead  to  sentiments  of  right  and  justice, 
is  aglow  with  admiration  and  gratitude  for  America's  well-sus- 
tained mighty  effort  to  relieve  the  distressed  and  comfort  the 
afflicted. 

"Great  things  have  been  done,  greater  remain  to  do.  Winter 
with  its  rigours  approaches.  Thousands  still  await  a  shelter  against 
its  storms,  and  more  thousands  still  cry  for  bread. 

"Their  cry  will  not  go  unheeded.  As  long  as  America  stands 
they  will  not  be  allowed  to  fall  victims  to  a  cruel  persecution. 


56  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

America,  ever  responsive  to  the  cry  of  suffering  humanity  every- 
where, will  assuredly  continue  to  hearken  to  Ireland's  call  for  aid." 

(Signed), 

►f.  P.  McKENNA, 

Bishop  of  Clogher. 


Some  extracts  follow  from  priests  in  the  afflicted  areas,  and 
from  the  recipients  of  relief;  these  are  valuable  as  first-hand  testi- 
mony to  the  beneficial  nature  of  the  work : — 

"Please  accept  my  willing  testimony  to  the  invaluable  work 
done  in  this  parish  by  the  Irish  White  Cross.  By  the  mercy  of 
God  this  parish  came  off  comparatively  scathless.  From  Novem- 
ber, 1920,  to  March,  1921,  we  had,  it  is  true,  many  nightly  incur- 
sions of  lorry-borne  warriors  into  a  peaceful  little  town.  They  looted 
at  least  three  'business  houses,  taking  away  £1,(XX)  worth  in  one 
case  and  £400  in  another,  but  they  considerately  abstained  from 
burning  down  the  houses.  However,  on  one  dreadful  night  in 
November,  the  horrors  of  which  will  never  leave  my  memory, 
they  took  two  gentle,  inoffensive  little  boys  from  their  beds  and 
riddled  them  with  bullets.  At  some  risk  I  and  another  priest 
prepared  one  of  them  for  death  in  the  hour  or  two  he  lingered, 
and  helped  to  carry  the  dead  body  of  the  other  (his  head  had  been 
almost  blown  away)  back  into  his  father's  house.  The  miscreants 
tried  to  get  two  others  but  they  escaped.  One  of  these  two  was 
father  of  a  family  of  six,  the  eldest  only  ten.  He  escaped  by  the 
back  door  in  his  night  clothes,  and  had  to  fly  from  the  district. 
His  hard  lot  brought  double  pneumonia  on  him,  but  he  recovered. 
During  this  time  his  wife  and  children  would  have  starved  had 
not  the  White  Cross  sent  funds  for  their  support  in  response  to 
every  appeal  we  made  in  their  behalf. 

"The  other  victims  were  in  better  circumstances,  and  our  local 
committee  did  not  feel  it  necessary  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  White 
Cross. 

"To  say  we  are  grateful  to  the  White  Cross,  and  to  those  who 
supplied  it  with,  funds  for  its  Christian  work,  is  a  very  feeble  way 
of  expressing  what  we  feel. 

"P.  CANON  LYONS,  P.P., 
"Ardee,  Co.  Louth." 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  S7 

"When  the  Catholic  village  here  was  looted  and  burned  by 
armed  Auxiliaries,  aided  by  armed  police  from  a  neighbouring  sta- 
tion, twelve  months  ago,  and  the  full-grown  male  inhabitants  were 
driven  out  in  terror,  I  applied  to  your  Society  at  the  Shelbourne 
Hotel  for  financial  assistance,  which,  after  some  necessary  formali- 
ties were  complied  with,  came  in  due  course.  From  the  beginning 
good  neighbours  threw  open  their  doors  to  the  homeless,  and 
shared  with  them  their  daily  bread,  with  a  spirit  worthy  of  the 
early  Christians,  so  that  American  generosity  was  a  relief  to  all, 
and  we  all  gratefully  acknowledge  the  fact. 

"D.  GORMLEY,  P.P., 
"Lakefield,  Co.  Fermanagh." 


"Well  do  you  call  the  work  of  the  'White  Cross'  humanitarian, 
for  nobly  has  it  striven  to  make  amends  for  the  thousands  of  in- 
human deeds  perpetrated  against  the  Irish  people. 

"The  imprisonment  and  loss  of  so  many  of  the  youths  of  Ire- 
land was  a  big  economic  blow ;  yet,  on  top  of  that,  if  life  was  to  be 
worth  living,  parcels  of  food,  clothes,  etc.,  had  to  be  provided  for 
prisoners.  And  even  the  poorest  did  their  best  in  this  respect. 
But  the  burden  was  becoming  too  heavy  when  your  organisation 
came  along  and  shouldered  the  heavy  weight.  And  your  help  was 
such  a  grand  scheme  that  it  never  bore  the  taint  of  alms  to  a 
beggar,  but  uplifted  and  heartened  the  receivers. 

"May  God  bless  the  generous  hearts  that  suggested  the  idea, 
and  the  generous  help  that  carried  it  out. 

"PHILIP  MULLIGAN,  P.P., 

"Scotstown,  Co.  Monaghan." 


RESOLUTION  PASSED  BY  THE  ENNISTYMON  PARISH 

COMMITTEE. 

"  'That  the  thanks  of  the  members  of  this  Committee  he  con- 
veyed to  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland  for  the 
assistance  given  to  the  victims  of  the  Irish  War  in  this  parish.' 

"Apart  from  the  sums  granted  to  persons  to  rebuild  houses 
destroyed  by  the  Crown  forces  as  reprisals,  this  Committee  has 
obtained  from  the  Irish  White  Cross,  and  paid  to  the  victims  to 
this  date,  the  sum  of  £820. 


58  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

"Amongst  those  on  the  relief  list  are  the  widow  of  a  young 
man  killed  in  September,  1920,  during  reprisals  in  the  town,  and 
her  two  young  children ;  the  wives  of  five  men  'on  the  run' — one 
having  six  young  children,  one  five,  one  four,  and  two  three  each, 
and  having  no  other  means  to  support  them ;  and  the  wife  of  a  man 
interned  for  over  twelve  months,  with  her  two  young  children. 

"A.  J.  NESTOR,  P.P.,  V.F.,  Chairman. 
"JOSEPH  GRIFFEY,  Secretary." 


"I  think  it  is  due  to  our  American  friends  that  I  should  write 
and,  on  behalf  of  three  families  in  the  parish — victims  of  the  reign 
or  terror — thank  you  for  the  prompt  and  generous  aid  afforded 
them.  One  family  in  particular,  that  of  Mrs.  O'Doherty,  were  it 
not  for  your  help,  would  have  been  in  very  straitened  circum- 
stances. Over  twelve  months  ago  her  daughter,  standing  at  her 
own  door,  had  both  her  legs  broken  by  a  riflle  ball  fired  by  a  police- 
man. In  April  last  her  son,  the  only  bread-winner  of  the  family, 
was  taken  out  of  his  bed,  and,  with  two  other  boys,  shot  dead  by 
an  Orange  murder  gang,  said  locally  to  have  been  chiefly  Ulster 
Special  Constables.  A  post-mortem  revealed  fifteen  bullet  wounds. 
This  was  a  case  of  hardship  in  which  your  generous  assistance 
was  especially  opportune. 

"JAMES  E.  McKENNA,  P.P., 

"Dromore,  Co.  Tyrone." 

"The  Kenmare  Parish  Committee  of  the  White  Cross  has 
pleasure  in  testifying  to  the  valuable  assistance  it  received  from  the 
Dublin  Central  Committee.  It  received  more  than  £450,  and  this 
was  distributed  among  about  sixty  selected  applicants,  in  amounts 
varying  from  from  £3  to  £25.  Though  the  amounts  look  small, 
the  assistance  and  encouragement  they  gave  were  much  beyond 
their  face-value. 

"(Signed), 

"P.   J.   MARSHALL,   P.P.,  V.P., 

"Chairman  of  Committee. 
"E.  O'CONNOR,  C.C, 

"Secretary." 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  59 

"I  have  to  thank  the  Irish  White  Cross  for  some  timely  aid 
they  sent  us  last  spring  for  the  purchase  of  seeds.  Without  this 
aid  many  a  poor  deserving  farmer  would  have  been  obliged  to 
allow  his  land  to  go  fallow  for  want  of  seed.  In  addition  to  this 
sum  we  received  two  other  contributions  for  the  relief  of  the 
destitute  needy  poor  of  the  district.  My  Committee  are  extremely 
grateful  for  those  kindly  aids,  and  have  asked  me  to  convey  to 
the  American  Committee  their  sincere  and  grateful  thanks. 

"M.  McHUGH,  P.P., 
"Carna,  Co.  Galway." 


"The  total  sum  received  in  this  parish  towards  the  relief  of 
distress  was  £2,334,  The  working  expenses  were  a  trifle.  There 
were  no  legal  expenses  and  no  salaried  workers  on  the  local  Com- 
mittee. 

"From  the  information  at  my  disposal,  I  am  fully  satisfied  that 
the  funds  were  distributed  with  absolute  impartiality. 

"Your  American  contributors,  to  whom  we  are  immensely 
grateful,  may  rest  assured  that  the  funds  entrusted  to  us  by  their 
representatives  in  Ireland  have  been  distributed  in  accordance  with 
their  wishes. 

"J.  P.  McDonnell, 

"The  Presbytery,  Dingle,  Co.  Kerry." 


"Last  week  we  were  fortunate  recipients  of  the  sum  of  £333 
odd  from  the  Irish  White  Cross  on  behalf  of  some  of  my  parishon- 
ers.  They  had  suffered  very  seriously  in  consequence  of  the  war, 
so  much  so  that,  without  any  exaggeration  whatsoever,  I  dare 
state  in  plain  language  that  they  were  half  starved  with  hunger. 
Your  donation  for  them  has  been  a  real  blessing;  but  unfortunately 
there  are  about  one  hundred  other  householders  in  the  same 
localities  who  are  equally  destitute.  These,  and  many  others, 
would  ere  now  have  died  of  starvation  were  it  not  for  the  assistance 
received  from  private  sources.  In  many  cases  a  family  have 
received  two  or  three  cakes  of  bread  from  a  fairly  independent 


60  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

farmer  living  at  a  distance.  Sometimes  a  starving  family  would 
receive  a  basket  of  potatoes  from  a  similar  source;  sometimes  I 
would  give  £3  or  £4  in  the  week  to  be  distributed  where  most 
required.  In  that  way  the  people  have  hitherto  managd  to  subsist. 
They  have  consumed  in  most  cases  their  seed  potatoes. 

"The  majority  of  those  who  are  now  in  such  dire  distress  are 
the  owners  of  half-reclaimed  patches,  lying  along  the  slope  of 
mountain  in  an  excessively  congested  district,  which  will  each 
maintain  a  miserable  specimen  of  a  cow  or  two.  The  male  members 
of  the  family  become  migratory  labourers  for  a  great  portion  of 
the  year,  at  the  end  of  which  time  they  return  with  £20  or  £30 
or  £40,  which  they  hand  over  to  the  neighbouring  little  shop- 
keeper, who  gave  them  goods  on  credit  during  the  preceding  year. 
Once  the  account  books  are  thus  cleared  they  will  as  before  obtain 
goods  on  credit  for  the  ensuing  year.  During  the  war  those  poor 
householders  were,  through  the  activities  of  the  Black  and  Tans, 
etc.,  unable  to  pay  their  debts  to  the  local  shopkeepers,  and,  con- 
sequently, could  obtain  no  credit.  Up  to  the  present  moment  they 
could  obtain  no  employment,  and  hence  the  semi-starvation.  If 
you  can  come  to  their  aid  pleace  do  so,  and  God  will  reward  you. 
The  case  is  pressing, 

"D.  MURPHY,  P.P., 

"Castlemaine,  Co.  Kerry." 


"On  behalf  of  the  Inver  White  Cross  Committee,  I  beg  to 
convey  in  any  adequate  measure  our  deep  feeling  of  gratitude  to  the 
for  the  splendid  material  and  moral  assistance  we  have  been 
enabled  to  render,  through  the  instrumentality  of  your  excellent 
Committee,  to  the  victims  of  the  late  war  of  repression  and  their 
dependents  here  in  the  Parish  of  Inver.  No  words  of  mine  can 
convey  in  any  adequate  measure  our  deep  feeling  of  gratitude  to  the 
great  American  Nation,  which  has  surpassed  itself  in  generosity 
throughout  the  terrible  and  prolonged  ordeal  through  which  we 
have  passed. 

"Out  of  a  total  of  £500  or  thereabouts  allocated  to  us  we 
were  enabled  to  make  fair  provision  to  meet  the  immediate  demands 
of  the  cases  specified.  Generally  speaking,  we  have  granted  one 
pound  per  weeik  in  each  case  to  the  dependents  of  the  internees  and 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  61 

the  unemployed.  One  man,  whose  horse  was  shot  by  the  military, 
had  it  replaced.  Another,  whose  motor  car  was  commandeered  and 
dismantled,  was  supplied  with  a  jaunting  car.  Allowance  was 
made  in  a  few  cases  for  bed  clothing  and  personal  clothing  de- 
stroyed, and  two  sewing  machine  provided.  All  are  now  restored 
to  their  old  homes,  and  we  trust,  under  the  new  Government,  they 
will  be  able  to  repair  their  shattered  fortunes  in  the  near  future. 
As  not  coming  within  the  scope  of  our  Committee,  I  have  made 
no  mention  of  £1,500  or  thereabouts  allocated  to  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Inver  Creamery,  which  is  now  in  full  working  order. 

"C.  KENNEDY,  P.P., 
"Parochial  House, 
"Rosses,  Co.  Donegal." 


62  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

"On  behalf  of  the  Branch  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  in  this 
parish,  and  on  behalf  of  the  parish  generally,  I  wish  to  thank  the 
American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland  for  the  helping  hand, 
extended  to  us  for  the  past  few  months. 

"We  did  not  suffer  directly  through  the  action  of  the  British 
troops  in  destruction  of  life  and  property.  But,  as  this  is  a  fishing 
district,  the  action  of  the  British  Government  in  closing  down  the 
Dingle  Railway,  and  in  not  allowing  supplies — even  food — into 
the  district,  interfered  very  seriously  with  the  industry,  and  led  to 
many  cases  of  hardship  and  want. 

"The  money  given  us  through  the  White  Cross  was  expended 
nearly  altogether  in  giving  employment  on  much  needed  local  works 
such  as  improvement  of  boat  slips,  making  approach  roads,  which 
had  been  thrown  out  of  contract  by  local  Councils  for  want  of  funds. 
Cases  of  direct  relief  were  very  few,  such  as  poor  women  who  had 
nobody  to  work  for  them  or  poor  men  unable  to  work. 

"I  am  sure  the  humanity  and  kind  sympathy  manifested  by  the 
Great  American  Nation,  in  coming  to  Ireland's  aid  in  her  great 
struggle  for  freedom,  will  not  be  the  least  of  her  glories  when  she 
recounts  her  efforts  throughout  the  world  in  'behalf  of  that  liberty 
with  which  her  name  will  always  be  associated." 

"F.  GRIFFIN,  P.P., 
"Ballyferriter,  Co.  Kerry." 


"The  Committee  of  the  White  Cross  Association  in  the  Parish  of 
Aghagower,  Co.  Mayo,  beg  respectfully  to  thank  the  central  body 
of  the  Association  for  the  gracious  help  accorded  to  the  poor  and 
suffering  of  the  parishioners,  and  to  assure  them  that  much  addi- 
tional suffering  has  been  obviated  by  the  timely  assistance  they 
have  given. 

"That  God  may  mercifully  grant  to  the  donors  and  adminis- 
trators His  choicest  gifts  and  blessings  is  the  constant  prayer 
of  all  here. 

"JOHN  FLANNERY,  P.P., 

"Aghagower,  Westport." 


"My  people  are  nearly  all  small  farmers,  and  used  to  hardship, 
and  so  when  their  houses  were  burned  to  ashes  they  were  able  to 
adapt  themselves  to  their  altered  circumstances  more  easily  than 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  63 

others.  They  turned  the  barns  into  dwelling  houses,  or  adopted 
some  similar  contrivance,  and  waited  in  patience  for  the  day  that 
would  witness  the  liberation  of  the  country  from  the  incendiaries. 
Realising  the  more  pressing  needs  of  others  on  the  funds  of  the 
White  Cross,  the  only  claim  they  made  for  themselves  was  for 
such  assistance  as  would  replace  the  necessary  household  utensils 
that  were  burned  or  destroyed.  This  was  immediately  forth- 
coming, and  helped  immensely  in  alleviating  their  sufferings. 

"There  were  four  houses  burned  to  the  ground  in  this  small 
parish  and  one  wrecked.  There  were  also  several  cases  of  unmen- 
tionable and  brutal  cruelty,  and  torture  of  flogging,  stripping  people 
naked,  placing  them  under  stones  on  cold  nights,  etc. 

"With  grateful  thanks  to  the  White  Cross. 

"M.  FAHY,  P.P., 

"Kinvara,  Co.  Galway." 


"I  have  delayed  up  to  the  present  that  I  might  be  able  to 
acknowledge  the  last  generous  subscription,  £50  (a  few  days 
ago),  of  your  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland,  towards 
the  support  of  those  dependent  on  their  bread-winners  'interned' 
on  account  of  their  political  principles.  The  very  generous  sum 
given  our  Committee  for  the  support  and  relief  of  those  dependent 
sufferers  amounts  to  £437  5s.  Od.  Only  those  acquainted  with  the 
circumstances  can  have  any  idea  of  the  comfort  and  happiness 
your  princely  donations  from  month  to  month  brought  to  those 
desolate,  starving  wives  and  children. 

"May  God  bless  and  reward  you,  and  all  your  noble  assistants, 
in  averting  a  calamity,  such  as  my  words  could  not  express,  from 
the  poor  virtuous,  helpless  dependents  of  the  noble,  brave,  and 
patriotic  internees  of  this  Parish  of  Ardara,  Co.  Donegal. 

"JOHN  CANON  O'DOHERTY,  P.P., 

"Ardara,  Co.  Donegal." 


"I  am  pleased  to  have  the  opportunity  of  testifying  to  the 
activities  of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland  during 
the  recent  troubled  times.  Our  local  Committee  have  received 
every  consideration,  and  were  enabled  thereby  to  distribute  consid- 
erable sums  of  money  among  the  victims  of  burnings  by  Crown 
forces  in  this  village. 


64  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

"We  are  all  very  grateful  to  our  friends  in  the  United  States 
for  the  help  given,  and  without  which  our  people  would  have 
suffered  most  severely. 

"T.  DUNNE,  P.P., 
"Cappawhite,  Co.  Tipperary." 


"I  beg  to  express  my  appreciation  and  gratitude  for  what  the 
American  White  Cross  has  done  for  the  Irish  people!  during  the 
recent  war  with  England.  I  believe  it  was  that  aid,  as  well  as  the 
moral  support  expressed  by  it,  that  put  heart  and  courage  into  the 
Irish  people  to  bear  and  suffer  and  struggle  as  they  have  done.  I 
have  seen  the  beneficial  effects  of  the  working  of  the  White  Cross 
in  my  own  parish,  where  two  houses  had  been  burned  after  an 
ambush.  The  owners  were  of  the  poorest  in  a  rather  poor  parish, 
and  they  possessed  no  resources  whatever  to  rebuild  and  refurnish 
their  houses.  The  White  Cross  Society  came  to  their  assistance 
immediately,  and  gave  them  £25  each  for  immediate  necessities, 
and  £150  each  for  rebuilding  and  refurnishing  their  houses.  That 
amount,  together  with  some  other  assistance,  put  the  houses  in  as 
good  condition  as  formerly.  The  workers  of  the  American  White 
Cross  and  the  American  people  themselves,  especially  the  Irish- 
Americans,  deserve  all  praise  and  gratitude  for  their  humanity  and 
generosity,  from  the  Irish  people  and  from  all  humane  peoples, 
and  I  have  full  confidence  that  God  will  reward  them  abundantly. 

"T.  DUNNE,  P.P., 

"Kilnadeema,  Loughrea." 


"I  can  hardly  find  a  suitable  term  to  apply  to  the  work  of  the 
American  Committee.  It  was  splendid,  magnificent,  the  biggest 
manifestation  of  the  Christian  spirit  of  brotherhood  ever  seen  in 
our  country. 

"What  would  be  the  position  of  our  people  to-day  but  for  the 
work  of  the  White  Cross. 

"If  the  American  Committee  had  not  come  to  our  assistance, 
it  is  my  personal  opinion  that,  though  we  might  not  have  been 
beaten,  we  would  not  have  won.  For  the  work  of  the  Committee 
heartened  and  strengthened  our  people  and  dismayed  our  enemies. 
There  was  no  advantage  to  be  gained  by  burning  a  house  or  a 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  65 

farmyard  if  the  White  Cross,  as  they  then  imagined,  was  going  to 
built  it  up  again.    This  and  the  fear  of  reprisals  stayed  their  hands. 

"The  actual  damage  done  by  the  Crown  forces  does  not  at  all 
represent  the  loss  to  the  country.  For  farmers,  whose  houses  and 
lands  lay  along  the  public  roads,  could  not  attend  to  their  spring 
work.  It  was  not  safe  for  any  man  to  be  seen  from  the  public  road 
when  the  Crown  lorries  passed. 

"In  conclusion,  I  have  again  to  express  my  high  appreciation 
of  the  work  of  the  American  Committee  and  of  the  White  Cross 
Organisation. 

"The  most  trying  months  for  country  people — April,  May  and 
June — are  yet  before  us,  and  I  trust  you  will  be  enabled  to  carry  us 
through. 

"M.  J.  CONROY,  P.P., 

"Kilmena,  Westport." 


"I  would  ask  you  to  convey  our  deep  and  sincere  gratitude  to 
all  those  of  your  people  in  the  United  States  who  have  so  nobly 
responded  to  our  appeal  with  the  open  purse  and  generous  hand, 
that  are  hall-marks  of  a  true  American  always  and  everywhere. 
The  cause  of  charity  never  appealed  in  vain  to  the  people  of  Amer- 
ica, but  they  have  been,  I  believe,  especially  responsive  to  the 
women  and  children  of  a  race  who  have  never  spared  themselves 
in  the  defence  and  upbuilding  of  your  great  Commonwealth, 

"The  generous  donors  will,  I  believe,  be  pleased  to  be  assured 
by  me,  as  Chairman  of  our  local  Committee,  that  every  penny  of 
the  White  Cross  money  that  came  to  Castleisland  was  expended 
solely  on  the  victims  of  the  war. 

"I  enclose  a  brief  summary  of  the  losses  and  damage  inflicted 
by  the  Crown  forces  on  property  owners  in  this  parish.  It  is  not 
full  or  comprehensive,  and  does  not  include  those  who  lost  their 
lives  in  the  struggle;  but  it  will  give  your  people  some  idea  of  the 
suffering  entailed,  the  poverty  and  attendant  distress,  why  so  many 
are  sick  and  shelterless,  and  made  helpless  by  the  cruelty  of  war. 
May  we  not,  then,  express  a  hope  that  the  White  Cross  may  be 
enabled  to  continue  its  beneficence  during  this  period  of  transition 


66  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

to  help  to  heal  the  wounds  and  repair  the  ravages  that  this  cruel 
war  has  inflicted. 

"J.  ARCHDEACON  CASEY,  P.P.,  V.G. 

"Castleisland,  Co.  Kerry." 


"I  find  it  hard  to  express  fully  my  appreciation  of  the  work 
done  by  the  American  White  Cross  for  my  people  here  in  Mallow. 
By  the  awful  outrage  on  the  night  of  28th  September,  1920,  not 
only  were  nine  houses  in  the  main  street  entirely  burned  by  Eng- 
lish soldiers  of  the  regular  army,  but  in  addition  the  Town  Hall, 
and,  worst  of  all,  the  Condensed  Milk  Factory,  by  which  a  great 
number,  mostly  girls,  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  The  funds  we 
could  raise  for  them  were  almost  exhausted  when  the  White  Cross 
came  to  our  assistance  last  June,  and  since  then  we  have  received 
on  an  average  £120  a  week.  Of  this  large  amount  not  one  penny 
was  expended  except  on : — 

"(a)  Those  burned  out  of  the  factory;  and 
"(b)  Dependents  of  our  boys  who  were  fighting  or  interned 
in  the  various  prison  camps. 

"What  we  in  Mallow  could  have  done  without  the  assistance 
received  from  the  White  Cross  I  do  not  know. 

"(Signed) 

"C.  W.  CORBETT,  P.P.  V.F., 

"Mallow." 


"The  noble  generosity  of  the  American  public,  and  their 
promptness  to  succour  a  stricken  people,  as  well  as  the  splendid 
work  done  here  in  Ireland  by  you  and  your  highly  capable  staff, 
deserve  and  richly  deserve  recognition,  and  this,  too,  in  a  permanent 
form. 

"Thanking  you  most  gratefully  on  behalf  of  the  Dingle  Com- 
mittee, and  wishing  you  every  blessing. 

"J.  P.  McDonnell,  p.p., 

"Dingle,  Co.  Kerry." 


"On  behalf  of  the  people  and  priests  of  Abbeydorney,  I  have 
been  asked  to  convey  to  you  and  the  other  members  of  the  Ameri- 
can Relief  Committee  our  deep  feelings  of  gratitude  for  the  gen- 
erous assistance  you  have  given  in  the  time  of  our  great  suffering. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  67 

"Thanks  to  the  generous  assistance  of  the  American  Relief 
Committee,  these  people  have  been  enabled  to  build)  new  homes, 
or,  where  they  were  not  utterly  destroyed,  to  repair  their  old 
homes.  Were  it  not  for  the,  aid  of  the  Wlhite  Cross  Committee 
ten  families  would  have  remained  homeless,  as  they  were  without 
the  means  of  rebuilding  their  ruined  homes. 

"In  addition,  grants  were  made  by  the  White  Cross  to  provide 
implements  whereby  sufferers  were  enabled  to  work  at  their  ordi- 
nary avocations. 

•  "Were  it  not  for  that  extraordinary  generosity  that  has  always 
been  a  characteristic  of  the  American  people,  the  victims  of  the 
savage  forces  let  loose  on  this  district  would  have  been  in  a  very 
bad  way  indeed.  But  thanks  to  the  White  Cross,  the  material 
injuries  they  suffered  are  being  repaired,  and  they  look  forward 
with  confidence  to  a  happy  future. 

"JAMES  J.  O'SULLIVAN,  P.P., 
"Abbeydorney,  Co.  Kerry." 


"The  Committee  are  very  grateful  to  you,  and  all  officials  of 
the  White  Cross  Society,  for  the  kindly  and  sympathetic  way  in 
which  you  received  any  suggestion  made  by  them,  and  for  the 
splendid  work  you  have  done  here  and  in  other  parts  of  the  coun- 
'try,  in  relieving  effectually  all  cases  of  hardship  within  the  scope 
of  your  Society. 

"DAVID  O'LEARY,  P.P.,  V.F., 

"Tralee,  Co.  Kerry." 


"On  behalf  of  the  Kilcar  Committee  of  the  Irish  White  Cross, 
I  would  ask  you  to  convey  to  the  American  Committee  for  Relief 
in  Ireland  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  timely  assistance  rendered  to 
several  families  in  my  parish  who  suffered  severely  through  the 
recent  political  turmoil  in  Ireland. 

"Generous  help  was  given  in  three  cases  of  special  urgency, 
where  the  bread-winner  of  the  family  was  interned  or  in  gaol, 
and  the  help  in  each  case  was  much  appreciated. 

"J.  J.  O'DONNELL,  P.P., 

"Kilcar,  Co.  Donegal." 


68  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

"During  the  recent  political  disturbances  in  this  district  there 
were  many  cases  of  shooting,  burnings,  looting  of  houses,  many 
imprisoned,  while  a  great  number  were  compelled  to  go  'on  the 
run.'    As  a  consequence  there  was  much  distress  and  suffering. 

"To  relieve  this  distress  a  branch  of  the  White  Cross  was 
established  last  June,  and  a  committee  formed,  and,  I  have  pleasure 
in  stating,  with  the  happiest  results. 

"For  instance,  a  large  garage,  run  by  two  brothers,  containing 
six  motor  cars,  run  for  hire,  was  burned  by  the  officers  of  the 
British  Government,  and,  consequently,  these  two  men  lost  their 
only  means  of  support,  and  a  number  of  chauffeurs  employed  by 
them  were  thrown  out  of  employment.  This  case  came  before  the 
White  Cross  Committee.  One  of  these  brothers,  having  a  large, 
helpless  family,  was  allowed  £5  a  week;  the  chauffeurs  thrown 
out  of  work  received  £2  per  week.  Finally,  these  brothers  got 
an  advance  of  £500,  to  enable  them  to  rebuild  their  garage  in  a 
small  way,  and  to  get  three  motor  cars,  so  that  most  of  their 
chauffeurs  are  again  employed,  and  very  much  suffering  relieved. 

"Four  families  whose  sons  were  imprisoned  received  about 
£250. 

"Fourteen  railway  men,  losing  their  employment  owing  to  the 
suspension  of  the  trains  for  fourteen  weeks,  also  received  some 
£100  from  this  charitable  fund. 

"I  take  this  opportunity  on  behalf  of  those  relieved,  and  on 
my  own  behalf,  to  thank  the  subscribers  and  officials  of  the  White 
Cross  Fund.     Their  work  was  a  most  charitable  work,  and  they 
deserve  the  prayers  and  gratitude  of  the  Irish  people. 
"JAMES  NOLAN,  P.P., 
"Chairman,  White  Cross  Committee,  Killorglin,  Co.  Kerry." 


"Speaking  for  this  parish,  I  have  to  say  that  the  relief  dis- 
tributed to  several  victims  of  the  National  disturbance,  now  happily 
ended,  was  a  God-send,  for  which  we  cordially  thank  the  American 
Committee  of  the  White  Cross  under  your  kind  direction. 

"T.  TWOMBY,  P.P., 

"Ballyvourney,  Co.  Cork." 


"Speaking  for  myself  and  for  my  parishioners,  especially  those 
of  them  who  have  received  substantial  and  much  needed  assistance 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  69 

from  the  White  Cross,  I  wish  to  express  to  the  American  Committee 
for  Relief  in  Ireland,  and  to  all  our  kind  and  sympathetic  friends 
in  the  States  who  so  generously  gave  their  contributions,  our  most 
heartfelt  gratitude  for  so  nobly  coming  to  the  relief  of  our  unhappy 
people  in  their  hour  of  bitter  sorrow  and  suffering. 

"In  words  I  cannot  fully  express  the  incalculable  good  done 
in  this  parish  through  the  White  Cross,  nor  the  warm  feelings  of 
thankfulness  in  our  hearts. 

"D.  M.  O'FLYNN,  P.P., 

"Crosshaven,  Cork." 


"I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  excellent  work 
done  by  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland,  and  to 
convey  to  you  my  thanks  for  the  help  received  by  three  families 
here  in  this  district.  Two  young  men,  who  were  the  main  support 
of  their  families,  were  in  prison  since  October,  1920,  and  about  the 
same  time  a  third  young  man  had  to  go  'on  the  run.'  These  three 
families  received  considerable  sums  from  the  White  Cross,  which 
they  appreciated  very  much,  and  which  enabled  them  to  tide  over 
their  distress. 

"B.  MAGUIRE,  P.P., 

"Tempo,  Co.  Fermanagh." 


"I  feel  it  is  incumbent  on  me  as  Chairman  of  the  local  Com- 
mittee of  the  White  Cross  to  express  to  you  the  profound  gratitude 
we  all  feel  here  to  the  great  American  people  for  their  generous 
support  of  our  afflicted  nation  during  the  past  terrible  years. 

"In  this  town  some  eight  families,  whose  bread-winners  were 
torn  from  their  homes  and  imprisoned  for  many  weary  months 
without  trial  or  accusation,  received  from  the  White  Cross  regular 
and  adequate  relief,  without  which  they  must  necessarily  have 
been  reduced  to  the  very  verge  of  starvation.  I  beg  of  you  to 
convey  to  the  American  Committee  the  expression  of  their  profound 
gratitude  for  this  most  timely  and  most  generous  assistance. 
"(REV.)  JAMES  J.  McNAMARA,  Adm., 

"Monaghan." 


"Taking  the  country  on  the  whole,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
overrate  the  amount  of  good  that  has  been  done  by  the  munificence 


70  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

of  the  American  people  towards  the  rehef  of  distress  in  Ireland. 
This  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  by  every  rank  and  every  class  of 
people.  One  hears  nothing  but  the  loudest  praise,  of  the  wonderful 
generosity  of  the  American  people,  and  of  the  judicious  way  in 
which  their  help  was  distributed.  The  everlasting  gratitude  of  the 
Irish  is  due  to  those  who  subscribed  and  to  those  who  administered 
the  subscriptions. 

"EDMUND  MORTON,  P.P., 
"Ballyhea,  Co.  Cork." 


"I  beg  to  say  that  all  the  people  here  are  in  grateful  remen* 
brance  of  what  the  American  Committee  of  the  Irish  White  Cross 
has  done  for  the  help  of  those  who  have  suflFered  for  their  country. 
I  know  that  families  here  belonging  to  the  political  prisoners  were 
well  looked  after. 

"You  may  be  sure  that  our  parishioners  are  in  grateful  appre- 
ciation of  all  that  has  been  done  for  us  and  our  country  by  the 
kindness  of  the  American  people. 

"JOHN  A.  NOLAN,  P.P., 
"Swords,  Co.  Dublin." 


"A  Branch  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  was  an  essential  in  Meelin, 
Co.  Cork,  in  the  spring,  1921.  An  ambush  of^  the  British  forces 
took  place  there  on  4th  January,  1921.  Following  the  ambush  the 
British  authorities  carried  out  official  reprisals  fcy  destroying  with 
explosives  six  houses  in  the  locality.  The  inhabitants  were  left  des- 
titute, their  clothes,  their  furniture,  in  fact  everything  they  valued, 
was  destroyed.  It  was  at  this  stage  the  Irish  White  Cross  Commit- 
tee was  established,  with  the  Rev.  John  Roche,  C.C.,  acting  as  Chair- 
man and  Corresponding  Secretary.  Every  honest  claim  that  was 
made,  both  to  Dublin  and  to  the  Branch  in  Cork,  was  immediately 
attended  to,  and  the  Committee,  during  1921,  were  able  to  distrib- 
ute amongst  the  sufferers  of  the  British  reprisals  about  £140. 

"(REV.)  JOHN  ROCHE,  C.C, 

"Meelin." 


"Thanks  to  the  White  Cross  Society;  only  for  it  we  could 
never  have  managed  to  eke  out  an  existence.  I  have  received  from 
it  up  to  the  time  of  writing  £49,  not  counting  the  loan  granted  to 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  71 

rebuild  the  house.  I  have  been  granted  a  loan  of  £300,  £200  of 
which  I  have  got,  which  will  help  to  re-establish  my  home.  If  it 
were  not  for  the  White  Cross  I  would  have  been  sadly  in  need,  as 
with  its  assistance  I  was  able  to  provide  myself  with  a  temporary 
home,  in  which  I  tried,  especially  since  the  Truce,  to  tend  my  cattle 
and  carry  on  my  duties  on  my  little  farm,  but  without  any  profit. 

"When  I  kneel  down  at  night  I  thank  God  for  all  my  suffer- 
ings, a  little  of  which  I  have  related,  and  I  heartily  pray  God  to 
bless  and  spare  my  friends  in  Ireland  and  America  and  the  world 
over,  who  have  so  willingly  contributed  to  lessen  our  sufferings. 

"In  September,  1921,  a  Committee  was  formed  in  the  parish  to 
secure  those  who  were  rendered  homeless  or  destitute  some  of  the 
money  which  was  subscribed  for  the  relief,  and  from  this  fund  I 
received  the  sums  of  £25,  £5  and  £6  5s.,  making  in  all  £36  5s., 
which,  of  course,  was  a  great  relief  to  me. 

"I  was  also  granted  a  loan  of  £200  to  rebuild  my  house,  at 
which  I  am  at  present  engaged.  I  expect  to  resume  my  work  again. 
I  am  sorry  I  have  not  a  photograph  of  the  ruins  of  my  little  house 
to  send  you,  as  it  would  give  the  people  whom  you  represent  an 
idea  of  the  warfare  in  Ireland,  and  would  also  go  to  show  that 
the  fund  which  they  so  quickly  contributed  to  is  being  used  for  a 
good  purpose.  This  is  a  'plain,  unvarnished  tale'  of  my  case,  and 
I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  gather  from  it  the  information  you  require. 
In  conclusion,  let  me  thank  you  for  the  noble  and  humanitarian 
work  you  and  your  countrymen  have  done  on  behalf  of  the  long- 
suflFering  Irish  people,  and  considering  myself  for  ever  your 
debtor. 


"Will  you  please  convey  to  the  Committee  of  the  Irish  White 
Cross  Association  my  sincere  thanks  for  their  generosity  in  lending 
me  the  sum  of  £1,000,  to  assist  in  re-instating  portion  of  my 
property  in  Belfast,  which  was  wrecked  and  destroyed  on  the 
occasion  of  the  attack  on  the  Catholic  residents  of  Falls  district  in 
the  month  of  July  last. 

"My  houses  are  situated  immediately  on  the  border  line  sep- 
arating the  Protestant  district  of  Shankill  Road  from  the  Catholic 
district  of  Falls.  All  the  inhabitants  of  these  houses  were  Catholics 
of  the  artisan  class — the  big  majority  of  whom  were  unable  to 
obtain  employment  in  Belfast  on  account  of  their  religious  beliefs 


72  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

— and  who  were  for  the  most  part  dependent  for  their  support 
on  the  charity  of  their  more  fortunate  neighbours. 

"Compared  with  the  sufferings  and  losses  of  my  tenants,  who 
were  already  in  poor  circumstances,  my  losses,  being  purely  mone- 
tary, must  of  necessity  appear  trivial,  but  as  a  result  of  the  attack 
damage  to  the  extent  of  £12,000,  as  estimated  by  my  Architect, 
has  been  done  to  my  property — 13  of  my  houses  being  razed  to  the 
ground,  whilst  22  were  so  badly  damaged  as  to  make  them  unfit 
for  habitation.  I  have  lodged  a  claim  for  compensation  with  the 
Belfast  Corporation,  but  it  is  not  yet  heard,  and  even  when  it  is 
disposed  of,  the  compensation,  I  am  informed,  will  only  be  payable 
in  five  yearly  instalments,  the  consequence  being  that,  owing  to  the 
intolerance  of  the  Protestant  majority  in  this  city,  I  am  deprived 
of  my  principal  source  of  income,  and,  in  addition,  have  to  discharge 
the  ground  rents  payable  in  respect  of  the  property. 

"Thanks,  however,  to  the  loan  of  £1,000  received  from  the 
White  Cross  Association,  and  with  the  addition  of  some  money 
of  my  own,  I  have  been  enabled  to  restore  a  number  of  the  houses, 
and  make  them  habitable  again,  by  some  of  the  people  who 
formerly  lived  in  them." 


"When  the  White  Cross  was  established  I  sent  on  my  appli- 
cation to  Dublin  for  a  loan  to  rebuild  my  house. 

"Having  carried  out  the  necessary  formalities,  the  White  Cross 
Committee  granted  me  a  loan  of  £300,  and  immediately  forwarded 
the  first  instalment  of  £100,  and  on  the  2nd  of  this  month  sent  me 
on  a  further  cheque  for  £100,  their  engineer  in  the  meantime  hav- 
ing inspected  the  part  of  the  house  I  had  built.  When  completed 
I  except  the  balance  of  £100  of  the  loan  outstanding. 

"I  am  deeply  indebted  to  the  White  Cross  Reconstruction  Com- 
mittee for  the  promptitude  with  which  they  dealt  with  my  claim 
for  a  loan.  Only  for  their  timely  succour  I  would  still  be  home- 
less. I  'beg  to  tender  to  them  my  warmest  gratitude,  and  earnestly 
request  them  to  convey  to  the  kind,  warm-hearted  and  generous 
people  of  liberty-loving  America  my  heartfelt  thanks  for  their 
generous  subscriptions." 


"All  my  savings,  including  money,  were  stolen  the  evening 
my  house  was  burned.     My  son,  who  was  my  only  help,  was  'on 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  73 

the  run/  so  that  I  had  nothing  to  exist  on.  Were  it  not  for  the  very- 
prompt  action  of  the  White  Cross  I  had  not  even  a  bed  to  lie  on. 
We  were  compelled  to  lie  on  a  damp  floor. 

"I  received  £35  by  way  of  assistance  from  the  White  Cross 
prior  to  the  loan. 

"The  amount  of  the  loan  granted  was  £200.  I  have  partially 
rebuilt  the  old  home,  and  am  as  comfortable  as  circumstances  would 
permit.    We  are  carrying  on,  tilling  crops  as  usual. 

"I  regret  I  have  no  photograph  of  my  house. 

"Before  I  conclude  I  would  respectfully  ask  you  to  convey  to 
the  American  people  the  heartfelt  gratitude  of  an  Irish  mother  and 
(widow).  Your  people  have  been  more  than  friends  to  us,  and 
God  will  reward  them  for  their  kindness." 

"God  bless  the  American  people." 

"I  was  idle  all  the  time  until  the  Truce.  My  Parish  Priest, 
through  the  White  Cross,  gave  me  a  little  help  from  time  to  time 
to  support  myself  and  my  family,  and  then,  to  repair  my  forge,  the 
amount  of  £33.  I  am  still  lodging  with  another  family.  I  got  £100 
from  the  Irish  White  Cross  also  to  do  up  my  house,  which  is  nearly 
built  now.  Only  for  the  White  Cross  we  should  have  been  unable 
to  start  our  new  house  yet.  We  pray  night  and  day  for  kind  Ameri- 
can people,  who  have  always  come  to  the  aid  of  the  suffering  Irish 
people." 


"I  was  doing  a  very  good  business,  educating  my  children,  and 
living  comfortably  out  of  the  profits,  and  I  am  now  one  year  and 
three  months  out  of  business,  and  would  not  be  able  to  start  re- 
build my  house  only  for  the  loan  I  got  from  your  Committee.  I 
beg  again  to  thank  the  Irish  White  Cross  for  the  help  they  have 
given  me,  viz.,  a  free  grant  of  £25  in  the  middle  of  October,  1921, 
and  a  loan,  to  help  me  rebuild  my  premises,  of  £500." 


"I  wish  to  join  with  others  in  thanking  most  heartily  the  con- 
tributors, supporters,  and  Committee  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  on 
the  cordial  and  honest  manner  in  which  they  distributed  and  dis- 
charged the  great  duty  imposed  on  them  in  relieving  the  distress 
which  the  people  were  enduring,  in  assisting  financially  arid  other- 
wise those  who  were  persecuted  and  afflicted  by  the  Crown  forces." 


74  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

APPENDIX  A. 

Appeals  for  Funds  issued  by  the  Irish  White  Cross  andl  by  the 
American  Committee  for  ReUef  in  Ireland. 


APPEAL  OF  THE  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS. 


The  Irish  White  Cross  has  been  founded  in  the  belief  that  there 
is  work  to  be  done  in  Ireland  for  the  relief  of  hardship  and  suffer- 
ing, and  the  reconstruction  of  industry,  which  must  appeal  to  the 
patriotism,  of  the  Irish  people  as  well  as  to  the  common  humanity 
of  all  well-wishers  of  the  country  throughout  the  world.  In  a  time 
of  political  disturbance  and  violence  it  is  still  possible  for  men  and 
women  to  forget  their  differences,  religious  and  political  alike,  anci 
to  bend  all  their  energies  to  a  constructive  effort  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  country.  The  appeal  which  we  make  to-day  is  made 
not  in  the  name  of  any  section  of  a  people,  but  in  the  name  of  hu- 
manity; no  political  distinctions  exist  in  suffering,  and  none  must 
exist  in  its  relief.  The  men  and  women  who  constitute  the  Irish 
White  Cross  think  differently  on  many  things ;  they  are  united  by 
the  bond  of  common  charity. 

The  first  appeal  must  be  made  to  the  people  of  our  own  coun- 
try, for  they  can  maintain  their  courage  and  confidence  in  this  hour 
of  distress  only  by  showing  their  determination  to  build  up  what- 
ever is  destroyed,  and  to  replace  every  damage  which  is  done  to  the 
industry  and  agriculture  of  Ireland.  If  we  allow  our  spirit  to  be 
conquered  by  hardship,  the  future  of  our  country  will  be  dark, 
indeed.  It  has  ever  been  the  pride  of  the  people  of  this  nation  to  go 
forward  through  all  trials  and  oppression  with  undaunted  cheerful- 
ness, and  we  should  not  to-day  be  found  wanting. 

But  to  our  friends  overseas  we  must  also  appeal,  for  the  need 
is  immediate  and  great  beyond  our  resources.  Cities  have  been 
burned,  factories  and  shops  wrecked  and  plundered,  farms  and  farm- 
buildings,  with  their  stores  of  crops,  destroyed.  By  these  causes, 
and  by  the  death  or  imprisonment,  often  without  charge  or  trial, 
of  the  breadwinners  of  thousands  of  families,  women  and  children 
have  been  brought  to  the  verge  of  starvation.  Unemployment  is 
widespread,  trade  and  commerce  have  been  seriously  injured,  and 
the  basic  industries  of  the  country,  such  as  dairying,  are  threatened. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  75 

For  the  repair  of  all  this  damage  we  appeal  to  those  in  all  countries 
whose  capacity  to  feel  pity  is  not  yet  deadened.  Already  in  Amer- 
ica the  appeal  has  met  with  an  eager  answer,  and  large  sums  of 
money  and  enthusiastic  workers  are  coming  forward  to  repeat  in 
Ireland  the  great  work  lately  done  in  Belgium  and  in  Central 
Europe. 

The  Irish  White  Cross  believes  that  the  names  of  those  who 
have  associated  themselves  with  it  will  justify  and  give  confidence 
in  the  appeal  for  funds  among  all  well-wishers  in  whatever  country. 
Its  policy  will  be,  while  recognizing  the  need  for  immediate  mone- 
tary aid  to  those  in  want,  to  give  that  aid  mainly  through  recon- 
struction, so  that  those  who  have  lost  their  means  of  livelihood 
shall  not  also  lose  their  self-respect  by  becoming  pensioners  on  the 
charity  of  others.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  the  General  Council 
has  authorized  the  Standing  Executive  Committee  to  expend  or  lend 
funds  for  any  of  the  following  purposes: — 

1.  The  relief  of  distress  and  hardship  in  the  case  of  indi- 
viduals or  groups  of  persons  deprived  of  the  means  of  liveli- 
hood. 

2.  The  restoration  or  repair  of  buildings,  and  the  replace- 
ment or  repair  of  furniture,  fittings,  machinery,  implements, 
or  personal  eflFects. 

3.  The  purchase  or  provision  of  stock-in-trade  or  raw 
materials  to  replace  stocks  or  materials  removed  or  destroyed. 

4.  The  provision  of  employment  by  the  organization  of 
works  or  otherwise. 

Parish  Committees  will  be  organised  throughout  Ireland,  and 
District  Committees  where  necessary.  The  local  bodies  will  col- 
lect money  and  remit  it  to  the  Executive,  and  they  will  advise  on 
local  needs  and  assist  in  the  distribution  of  grants.  It  is  intended 
that  the  work  shall  be  of  a  truly  national  character,  and  shall  sup- 
plement and  co-ordinate,  while  in  no  way  destroying,  all  work  of  the 
same  character  which  is  now  being  done  by  local  or  sectional  or- 
ganizations. To  relieve  acute  distress  and  repair  the  material  dam- 
age in  Cork,  Belfast,  Lisburn,  Tipperary,  and  Clare,  to  mention  only 
a  few  examples,  millions  of  pounds  would  be  needed.  Charity  and 
patriotism  alike  require  that  we  should  without  delay  combine  our 


76  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

energies  and  resources,  so  that   the  burden   which  now   presses 
grievously  on  some  of  our  people  may  be  so  borne  as  to  exalt  us  all. 
Laurence  O'Neill, 

Chairman. 
L.  Smith-Gordon, 

Chairman  of  Standing  Executive  Committee. 
James  G.  Douglas, 

Honorary  Treasurer. 
James  McNeill, 

Honorary  Secretary. 
Mansion  House,  Dublin, 

26th  February,  1921. 


APPEAL  OF  A.  C.  R.  I.  TO  THE  AMERICAN  PUBLIC. 


In  Ireland  to-day  thousands  of  women  and  children  have  been 
driven  to  the  pitiful  refuge  of  the  fields  and  open  country.  Bal- 
briggan,  Granard,  Tralee,  Templemore,  Trim,  Tobercurry,  Lisburn, 
Thurles,  Mallow,  and  numerous  other  towns  and  villages  have  been 
burned  and  are  partly  or  wholly  in  ruins.  In  Cork  alone  acres  of 
business  buildings  and  homes  have  been  wiped  out  by  fire. 

Over  forty  creameries,  the  co-operative  plants  of  great  and 
small  communities,  built  by  Irish  farmers,  have  been  razed  to  the 
ground,  and  the  economic  units  they  served  have  been  paralyzed. 

Thousands  of  workers  have  been  thrown  out  of  employment 
by  the  burning  of  factories  and  creameries,  and  in  consequence  of 
the  generally  disturbed  conditions  in  Belfast  alone,  thirty  thousand 
persons,  shipyard  workers  and  their  families,  are  on  the  verge  of 
starvation. 
I  The   transportation   system  has   broken  down,   so  that   it  is 

-  dififtcult  to  distribute  even  such  supplies  as  are  available  in  Ireland. 

Tb  meet  this  appalling  situation,  and  to  cope  with  it  before  it 
reaches  a  point  where  it  may  menace  the  very  existence  of  the  Irish 
people,  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland  has  been 
formed.  This  Committee  is  a  non-political  and  non-sectarian  body, 
solely  humanitarian  in  aim,  which  seeks  the  co-operation  of  all  those 
in  whom  human  suffering  evokes  sympathy.  This  American  Com- 
mittee purposes  to  supply  relief  to   the  women  and  children  in 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  77 

Ireland,  without  regard  to  political  or  religious  distinctions,  through 
trained  relief  workers,  distributing  foodstuffs,  clothing,  building  ma- 
terials, and  medical  stores. 

The  suffering  and  the  helpless  in  Ireland  seek  aid.  from  the 
American  people,  who  have  never  yet  refused  an  appeal  from  the 
suffering  and  helpless.  To  relieve  the  bitter  need  of  the  Irish  people, 
we  confidently  appeal  for  aid  to  the  humanity  of  America. 

There  is  little  to  add  to  the  above,  save  to  point  out  that  Ireland 
is  virtually  the  only  place  in  the  world  where  the  destruction  of 
resources  has  been  continuous.  To-day  industry  is  paralyzed  in 
Ireland,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  able-bodied  male  population  is 
leading  a  hunted  and  fugitive  existence.  If  present  conditions  con- 
tinue unrelieved,  the  Irish  race  in  Ireland  faces  virtual  annihilation. 
We  are  confident;  that  Americans  of  every  class  and  creed  will  re- 
spond promptly  to  avert  the  terrible  fate  menacing  a  people  to  whom 
they  are  so  closely  bound  by  ties  of  kinship  and  of  common  heritage. 


APPENDIX  B. 

Report  to  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland  by  the 

Delegates  who  visited  the  Country  in  the  Spring  of  1921. 


Your  delegation  to  Ireland  respectfully  reports  that  its  mem- 
bers arrived  in  Ireland  on  February  12th,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
Mr.  France,  had  left  Ireland  by  March  31st,  During  these  forty- 
nine  days  members  of  your  delegation  conducted  an  investigation 
into  economic  distress  in  Ireland,  which,  they  respectfully  submit, 
has  not  been  equalled  in  scope  by  any  other  investigative  body, 
either  Irish,  British,  American,  or  of  any  other  nationality. 

The  members  of  your  delegation  themselves  visited  nearly  one 
hundred  communities  in  Ireland  in  which  acute  distress  exists. 
They  collected  reports  as  to  many  other  communities  from  respon- 
sible persons  of  all  shades  of  political  opinion,  and  also  had  the  co- 
operation of  responsible  members  of  the  English  Society  of  Friends, 
who  visited  the  devastated  communities  of  Ireland,  and  were  simi- 
larly moved  by  the  distress  which  they  found  there  existing. 

The  members  of  the  delegation  visited  no  less  than  ninety-five 
cities,  towns,  villages,  and  creameries,  in  which  destruction  of  build- 
ings or  property  by  the,  military  or  police  forces  of  the  British 
Crown  has  occurred. 


78  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

The  places  visited  range  in  geographic  location  from  Gorta- 
hork,  on  the  extreme  north-western  coast  of  Ireland,  to  Timoleague, 
on  the  extreme  southern  coast;  from  Dublin,  in  the  east,  to  Clifden 
and  Aran  Islands,  in  the  west.  They  are  located  in  twenty-two  of 
the  thirty-two  counties  of  Ireland. 

In  the  ninety-five  places  visited  there  occurred  90  per  cent,  of 
the  material  damage  to  property  owned  by  the  civil  population, 
which  has  been  recorded  during  the  twelve  months  ending  March 
31st,  1921. 

Your  delegation  viewed  this  damage  personally,  and  personally 
collected  on  the  spot  evidence  as  to  the  value  of  the  property  de- 
stroyed. In  addition,  written  statements  from  reliable  sources  were 
supplied  to  your  delegation  regarding  material  damage  in  the  small 
number  of  afflicted  communities  which  they  were  unable  to  visit. 

Summarizing  this  data  in  regard  to  material  damage  and  per- 
sonal distress,  your  delegation  reports  that  the  material  damage  to 
Irish  shop-buildings,  factories,  creameries,  and  private  dwelling- 
houses,  inflicted  by  the  British  forces  during  the  past  twelve 
months,  amounts  approximately  to  $20,000,000;  that  without  reduc- 
tions in  the  cost  of  labour  and  materials  the  cost  of  replacing  the 
buildings  will  be/  approximately  $25,000,000. 

The  number  of  buildings  which  have  been  damaged  or  par- 
tially or  wholly  destroyed  within  the  past  twelve  months,  and  which 
we  have  viewed,  is  upwards  of  600.  Irish  Republican  statistics  place 
the  number  of  property  units  destroyed  at  upwards  of  2,000,  but 
this  includes  not  only  buildings,  but  individual  shops  in  buildings, 
their  contents,  isolated  farm  buildings,  hayricks,  etc. 

Homes  Destroyed. 

The  destruction  of  buildings  in  150  towns  in  so  small  a  country 
as  Ireland  is  relatively  as  serious  as  the  destruction  of  buildings  in 
5,000  towns  and  villages  would  be  in  sd  large  a  country  as  the 
United  States. 

Our  own  general  estimate  of  $20,000,000  (£5,000,000)  damage 
throughout  Ireland,  arrived  at  from  our  investigations  on  the 
ground,  coincides  substantially  with  the  total  figures  collected  by 
Irish  Republican  statisticians,  and,  it  should  be  noted,  is  less  by 
$8,000,000  than  the  estimate  given  us  by  a  responsible  Crown  offi- 
cial, who  is  informed  in  regard  to  the  data  in  the  possession  of 
the  Crown  estimate  at  £7,000,000. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  79 

The  distress  which  we  ourselves  witnessed  in  the  ninety-five 
communities  which  we  visited,  and  which  is  scatterd  throughout 
Ireland,  is,  we  here  emphasise,  a  distress  quite  separate  and  dis- 
tinct from  that  distress  in  Ireland  which  arises  from  unemployment 
due  to  a  general  trade  depression,  such  as  may  be  observed  in 
countries  throughout  the  world;  it  is  separate  and  distinct  from 
the  distress  arising  from  long-continued  poverty,  such  as  may  be 
observed  in  the  slums  of  New  York  or  Chicago  or  London ;  it  is 
wholly  separate  and  distinct  from  the  economic  distress  of  Irish 
women  and  children  whose  male  relatives  may  be  engaged  in  active 
armed  opposition  to  the  British  military  forces  operating  in  Ireland, 
and  whose  male  relatives,  thus  being  unable  to  engage  in  their 
ordinary  industrial  avocations,  leave  their  families  in  want. 

The  distress  we  are  here  dealing  with  is  that  of  habitually 
thrifty  and  industrious  workers,  who  would  be  able  to  continue 
their  occupations  and  to  support  their  families  were  it  not  for  the 
abnormal  situation  now  existing  in  Ireland ;  men  and  women  who 
are  emphatically  neither  the  so-called  "professional  beggars,"  who 
are  common  to  all  countries,  nor  the  workers  whom  the  trade  stag- 
nation, which  has  been  prevalent  throughout  the  world,  has  tempos 
rarily  thrown  out  of  employment;  they  are  an  industrious  section 
of  the  community,  never  previously  in  need  of  help  from  anyone, 
and  who  would  not  accept  it  now  if  the  alternative  which  faced 
them  were  not  the  starvation  of  their  families;  men  and  women 
who  have  quietly  gone  about  their  peaceful  pursuits  all  their  lives, 
and  who  have  steadfastly  refrained  from  taking  any  part  in  armed 
activities.  It  is  for  such  persons,  now  thrown  out  of  work,  that  we 
confidently  invoke  the  sympathy  and  practical  help  of  every  Ameri- 
can, solely  on  the  ground  of  that  fundamental  mercy  and  humanity 
which  transcends  all  else. 

100,000  in  Need. 

We  found  that  there  are  some  25,000  families,  numbering  ap- 
proximately 100,000  men,  women  and  children,  who  are  in  pitiful 
need  of  instant  help  from  the  American  people. 

We  may  point  out  that  even  when  employed  the  workman  in 
Ireland  receives  a  wage  so  low  that  it  would  be  difficult  for  an 
American  to  understand  how  the  Irish  workman  can  support  him- 
self and  his  family  upon  such  a  wage.     Now,  through  no  fault  of 


80  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

their  own,  the  families  to  which  we  refer  are  without  even  this  piti- 
fully small  income.  In  most  cases  their  pathetic  savings  have 
already  been  spent  for  the  barest  necessaries  of  existence.  They 
need  bread,  and  they  need  it  quickly. 

The  present  prevailing  wage  for  ordinary  unskilled  labour  in 
Ireland  ranges  from  $9  to  $14  a  week ;  even  those  who  are  working 
at  electric  power  houses,  for  example,  receive  only  $14 ;  motormen 
receive  $12.50;  conductors,  $11.50;  farm  labourers  rarely  more 
than  $8. 

To-day  the  25,000  families  to  which  we  refer  have  not  even 
this  scanty  income.  They  do  not  receive  the  unemployment  allow- 
ance, which  was  limited  to  eight  weeks.  What  will  it  cost  to  feed 
them?  A  wages  commission  was  recently  appointed  in  Cork  City 
to  determine  the  minimum  on  which  a  man  and|  family  could  exist 
in  reasonable  respectability.  A  report  fixing  the  minimum  living 
wage  at  $14  was  returned. 

The  families  which  we  found  to  be  justly  within  the  province 
of  your  Committee's  helpfulness  are  now  cut  off  from  earning 
this  $14  a  week,  or  any  sum  whatever.  They  can  manage  to  keep 
alive  on  a  diet  which  would  seem  a  starvation  diet  to  the  poorest 
American  family — a  diet  chiefly  consisting  of  no  more  than  bread 
and  tea  at  every  meal,  with  a  bowl  of  soup  two  or  three  times  a 
week  as  a  luxury — and  this  meagre  diet,  the  rental  of  bare  lodgings, 
and  an  almost  infinitesimal  supply  of  fuel  for  heat  and  cooking, 
can  be  obtained  for  $7  a  week.  This  will  keep  life  in  a  family  of 
five — father,  mother,  and  three  children — and  this  is  the  minimum 
amount  which  will  be  necessary  for  each  family. 

When  we  state  that  there  are  25,000  families  now  in  need  of 
help  in  Ireland,  we  are  quite  aware  that  the  ordinary  traveller 
through  Ireland,  going  only  by  train,  and  visiting  not  more  than 
two  or  three  communities,  would  be  unaware  that  any  such  degree 
of  distress  exists.  From  his  train  window  he  would  see  only  a 
green  and  fertile  countryside,  of  immense  agricultural  wealth,  and 
fully  capable  of  supporting  its  population.  In  the  towns  he  might 
visit  he  would  see,  in  his  casual  walks  through  their  business  streets, 
little  that  would  lead  him  to  believe  that  acute  distress  exists. 

But  if  he  looked  beneath  the  surface,  if  he  went  from  house  to 
house,  outside  the  beaten  paths  of  travel,  eliminating  all  the  dis- 
tress from  unemployment  resulting  from  trade  depression,  and  all 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  81 

the  distress  of  the  habitual  mendicant  class,  he  would  still  find, 
in  every  little  village  that  he  entered,  two,  three,  or  a  half-dozen 
families  which  had  never  before  been  in  want,  and  which,  but  for 
the  fact  that  thy  had  at  last  come  face  to  face  with  starvation,  would 
never  let  their  need  be  guessed. 

Let  him  go,  as  we  did,  from  town  to  town,  adding  up  such 
cases  as  these,  one  by  one,  until  he  had  gone  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Ireland;  let  him  visit  the  towns  where  shops  and  factories  have 
been  destroyed,  and  add  up  the  numbers  of  thosq  kept  out  of  em- 
ployment by  the  crippling  of  those  industries;  let  him  take  note 
of  the  hundreds  of  families  brought  to  continued  distress  by  the 
destruction  of  the  business  centre  of  Cork,  and  the  thousands  of 
families  in  Belfast  whose  wage-earners  have  been  able  to  earn 
nothing  since  they  were  driven  from  the  shipyards  of  Belfast  seven 
months  ago;  and  when  he  has  looked  at  the  total  he  himself  has  set 
down,  he  will  wonder  that  his  casual  thought  was  that  there  is 
little  distress. 

They  Face  Starvation. 

One  hundred  thousand  men,  women  and  children!  Less  than 
three  per*  cent,  of  the  total  population  of  Ireland,  it  is  true ;  but  if 
3,CXX),000  Americans  were  faced  with  actual  starvation  to-day,  who 
had  never  know  distress  until  to-day,  who  would  say  that  there  was 
not  a  most  pitiful  situation  in  America? 

From  the  crippling  of  the  co-operative  creameries  in  Ireland, 
15,000  farmers,  who  supplied  these  creameries  with  milk  for  butter 
and  cheese-making,  are  suffering  severe  loss,  and  are  faced  with 
even  more  deeply  serious  distress  in  the  immediate  future.  Their 
situation  is  not  due  to  general  business  depression.  It  has  been 
brought  about  by  conditions  wholly  outside  their  control,  and  not 
related  in  any  way  to  market  stagnation,  which,  in  fact,  does  not 
exist.  Upon  these  15,000  farmers  depend  45,000  women  and 
children. 

Creameries  Destroyed. 

Our  investigation  into  the  destruction  of  creameries  in  Ireland, 
the  reasons  for  this  destruction,  the  economic  importance  of  the  co- 
operative dairy  business  in  Ireland,  and  the  cost  of  restoring  the 
damaged  creameries  to  their  normal  state,  was  conducted  by  Mr. 
Oren  B.  Wilbur,  a  dairy  farmer  of  widci  experience  and  mature 
judgment,  and  Mr.  William  B.  Price,  an  architect.    Mr.  Wilbur  and 


82  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

Mr.  Price  were  at  all  times  in  close  consultation  with  the  officials 
of  the  Irish  Agricultural  Organisation  Society,  Plunkett  House, 
Dublin,  the  organisation  of  which  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  is  the  head, 
and  which  was  built  up  by  the  co-operative  movement  in  Ireland 
during  the  past  27  years.  It  is  purely  an  industrial  organisation, 
and  one  which  has  sedulously  kept  itself  free  from  political  inter- 
ests of  any  sort  throughout  its  existence.  On  the  major  portion 
of  their  tour  of  investigation,  covering  hundreds  of  miles,  Mr.  Wil- 
bur and  Mr.  Price  were  accompanied  by  Mr.  Fant,  the  chief  travel- 
ling representative  of  Plunkett  House  in  the  organisation  and  op- 
eration of  creameries. 

During  the  past  year,  ending  on  April  9,  1921,  more  than  50 
attacks  by  Crown  forces  were  made  on  co-operative  creameries, 
resulting  in  their  partial  or  total  destruction.  Mr.  Wilbur  and  Mr. 
Price  personally  visited  29  of  these  creameries,  including  all  those 
where  the  most  heavy  damage  was  inflicted,  and  directly  collected 
reports  regarding  26  others.  They  estimate  that  the  amount  neces- 
sary to  restore  these  55  creameries  to  operation  is  £114,279,  but 
state  that  in  arriving  at  this  figure  they  adopted  drastically  reduced 
estimates,  and  give  it  as  their  opinion  that  the  total  sum  needed  to 
rehabilitate  the  creameries  completely  amounts  to  £250,000. 

The  summary:  Men,  Women 

Children 

On  dairy  farms 60,000 

In  Belfast 23,000 

In  Cork 8,000 

In   150  smaller  communities  throughout 

Ireland 3,000 


94,000 
The  minimum  needed  is  $450,000  a  month. 

Material  Damage. 

There  are  to-day  upwards  of  1,000  co-operative  agricultural 
societies  in  Ireland,  with  a  membership  of  140,000  farmers.  Their 
trade  in  butter,  cheese,  and  other  agricultural  products  amounted 
during  the  year  1919  to  £11,158,583,  making  the  average  annual 
turn-over  for  each  society  £10,886.     The  55  damaged  creameries 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  83 

included  many  whose  annual  turn-over  was  far  above  this  average, 
the  total  number  of  farmers  supplying  these  creameries  with  milk 
being  approximately  15,000,  and  their  aggregate  annual  turn-over 
being  approximately  £1,000,000. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Irish  Agricultural  Organisation 
Society  in  Dublin  on  March  22nd  last,  at  which  Mr.  France  was 
present,  the  annual  report  was  submitted.  In  regard  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  creameries  the  report  said: — 

"The  material  damage  resulting  from  over  fifty  attacks  on 
creameries — over  sixty,  if  fourteen  raids  on  one  society  were  to  be 
separately  included — cannot  yet  be  exactly  stated,  but  will,  it  is 
estimated,  exceed  £200,000.  If  consequential  damage  is  taken  into 
account,  as  in  some  cases  the  County  Court  Judges  who  had  tried 
them  agreed  to  be  equitable,  the(  financial  loss  was  incalculable. 
It  may  run  to  £1,000,000." 

In  the  supplementary  report  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Wilbur,  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  exhaustive  investigation  made  by  Mr.  Price  and 
himself,  Mr.  Wilbur  says: — 

"I  wish  to  express  my  conviction  that  the  creameries  and  their 
auxiliaries  are  the  most  important  of  all  the  immediate  relief  needs 
which  the  American  people  can  help,  and  I  wish  to  strongly  urge 
upon  the  Committee  the  consideration  of  their  claims.  The  whole 
butter  and  cheese-making  industry  will  be  hard  hit  if  these  cream- 
eries are  not  soon  set  running  again ;  and,  further,  the  cattle-raising 
business  will  also  be  affected.  Now,  all  the  calves  are  raised  on  the 
skimmed  milk  from  the  creameries,  instead  of  a  part  being  'vealed,' 
as  they  are  in  many  parts  of  America.  Then,  when  they  are  about 
two  years  old,  they  are  sold  to  the  graziers  in  the  midlands,  who 
fatten  them  on  the  rich  grass  lands  of  central  Ireland,  and  then 
ship  them  td|  England.  If  the  lack  of  creameries  results  in  the 
farmers  being  compelled  to  sell  their  cows,  as  it  already  has  in  some 
measure,  it  will  mean  that  there  will  be  less  and  less  calves,  and 
soon  the  graziers  will  find  themselves  short  of  feeding  stock,  and 
both  the  dairy  and  meat  product  of  the  kingdom  will  be  seriously 
curtailed." 

An  extract  from  the  reports,  supplementary  to  this  report, 
which  are  offered  by  the  individual  members  of  the  American  So- 
ciety of  Friends,  who  were  members  of  your  delegation  to  Ireland, 
reads : — 


84  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

The  Need. 

"Is  there  a  need?  There  seems  to  me  to  be  a  great  need  in 
Ireland,  need  resulting  from  three  fundamental  causes: — (1)  The 
burning  of  their  homes;  (2)  the  destruction  of  industries  upon 
which  persons  relied  for  their  support ;  and  (3)',  the  lack  of  em- 
ployment resulting  from  economic  stagnation.  The  need  from  the 
burning  of  homes  seems  to  me  to  be  both  great  and  pressing.  We 
went  through  dozens  of  towns  where  there  were  homes  and  shops 
burnt ;  in  most  cases  these  people  have  made  claims  for  damages, 
but,  in  the  meantime,  these  claims  have  not  been  paid;  in  many 
cases  their  is  little  probability  of  their  "ever  being  paid.  As  an 
individual  I  am  entirely  convinced  that  many  of  these  people  were 
entirely  innocent  of  any  complicity  in  the  acts  for  which  they  were 
punished  by  having  their  homes  burnt." 


APPENDIX  C. 


Letter  from  the  Irish  Delegation  of  Plenipotentiaries  to  the  Repre^ 
sentatives  of!  the  American!  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland  on 
the  conclusion  of  their  visit  in  the  Autumn  of  1921. 


The  following  letter  was  addressed  by  the  Irish  Delegation  of 
Plenipotentiaries  to  Judge  Campbell  and  Mr,  J.  J.  Pulleyn  on  fheir 
departure  from  London  after  visiting  Ireland  in  connection  with 
the  work  of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland : — 

"Irish  Delegation  of  Plenipotentiaries, 
"Secretariat, 
"22  Hans  Place,  S.W., 

29th  October,  1921. 
"To 

"Judge  Campbell  and  Mr.  J.  J.  Pulleyn, 

"On  their  departure  to  America,  October  30th,  1921. 

"The  Irish  Delegates  now  engaged  in  negotiations  for  peace 
wish  to  express  to  you,  and  ask  you  to  convey  to  the  other  mem- 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  85 

bers  of  the  American  Committee  for  Relief  in  Ireland,  the  profound 
gratitude  which  they,  in  common  with  their  fellow-countrymen,  feel 
toward  the  Committee,  and  all  those  in  the  United  States  who  have 
contributed  to  its  funds,  for  the  generous  assistance  sent  to  Ireland 
for  the  relief  of  the  suffering,  loss  and  misery  incurred;  by  the  Irish 
people  in  their  struggle  for  national  independence. 

"We  also  take  the  opportunity  of  expressing  our  appteciation 
of  the  able  and  devoted  work  done  in  Ireland  on  behalf  of  your 
Committee  by  Messrs.  France  and  McCoy  and  those  associated 
with  them. 

"It  is  not  only  that  the  material  aid  you  have  organised  has 
been  of  incalculable  benefit,  you  and  your  friends  have  helped  to 
sustain  the  spirit  of  our  people,  and  to  make  them  realise  that  your 
great  nation  stood  beside  them  with  encouragement,  sympathy  and 
hope  in  the  terrible  ordeal  undergone  in  the  efforts  to  save  their 
national  institutions  and  the  very  fabric  of  their  national  life  from 
destruction. 

"Once  more  we  thank  you  for  all  that  your  humane  interven- 
tion has  meant  for  our  people,  and  heartily  wish  you  God-speed. 

"Beir  buaidh  agus  beannacht, 

"ARTHUR  GRIFFITH. 
"MICHAEL  COLLINS. 
"GEORGE   GAVAN   DUFFY. 
"R.  C.  BARTON. 
"EAMONN  DUGGAN.*' 


86  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

APPENDIX  D. 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  SOCIETY. 

Geographical  Distribution  of  Personal  Relief  to  the 
31st  August,  1922. 

Antrim — 

i,        s.   d.       i&  s.  d. 

Antrim 51  10    0 

Belfast  362,356  16    1 

Derrymacash 285    0    0 

362,693    6    1 

Armagh — 

Armagh 1,916    0    0 

Forkhill 4    0    0 

1,920    0    0 

Carlow — 

Aries   65    0  0 

Bagenalstown  123  10  0 

Ballon    13    0  0 

Cariow    1,302    0  0 

Clonmore   357  15  0 

Hacketstown    169    0  0 

Rathvilly    92    5  0 

Tullow    254    0  0 

2,376  10    0 

Cavan — 

Arva 231    0  0 

Cavan    1,264    5  0 

Dromard   47    0  0 

Stradone    6  10  0 

Swanlinbar   100    0  0 

Tullycoo    7    0  0 

1,655  15    0 

Carried  forward,  £368,645  11     1 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  87 

£  s.  <i. 

Brought  forward,      368,645  11     1 

Clare —  £>        s.   d. 

BalHnacally    45    0    0 

Bodyke  70    0    0 

Clare  Abbey  and  Killone 55    0    0 

Clare  County,  general 3,233  18    5 

Doolin    50    0    0 

Ennis  1,143  12    0 

Ennistymon    983    5    0 

Feakle 294  10    0 

Kilkeshan    320    0    0 

Killaloe 93    0    0 

Kilrush  30    0    0 

Lacken 15    0    0 

Lahinch  847  10    0 

Lissycasey  206    0    0 

Meelick 156    0    0 

Meelin   125    0    0 

Miltown-Malbay   947    4    0 

Rath  8  15    0 

Scariff  189    0    0 

Sixmilebridge    118  10    0 

Tulla  160    0    0 

9,091    4    5 

Cork — 

Ballyvourney    66    0    0 

Bantry  100    0    0 

Blarney    50    0    0 

♦Cork  District  Committee 170,398    3    9 

Kilbehenny  18    0    0 

Kilmichael  25    0    0 

Kingwilliamstown    269    0    0 

Mallow  180    0    0 

Rosscarbery   20    0    0 

171,126    3    9 


Carried  forward,  £548,862  19    3 


Cork  District  Committee  distributed  this  amount  among  the  city  and  county  branches. 


88 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


754    0    0 


£  s.  d.       £          s.  d. 
Brought  forward,                             548,862  19    3 
Derry — 

Derry   754  0  0 

Donegal — 

Ardara  477  0  0 

Ballybofey   305  10  0 

Ballyshannon 324  15  0 

Bruckless    100  0  0 

Buncrana   269  0  0 

Bundoran  •      137  0  0 

Burtonport    241  0  0 

Carrick    80  0  0 

Cloughaneely  187  10  0 

Cresslough  60  10  0 

Donegal   County,   general 350  0  0 

Dungloe    256  10  0 

Falcarragh    6  10  0 

Glencolumbkille    199  0  0 

Glenties    134  0  0 

Gweedore    78  0  0 

Inniskeel   71  0  0 

Inver  508  0  0 

Kilcar   88  0  0 

Killybegs 245  0  0 

Killygordon  216  10  0 

Kincasslagh 170  15  0 

Letterkenny    246  0  0 

Mount  Charles  58  0  0 

Upper  Rosses 22  10  0 

Down — 

B^nbridge   4,090  11  0 

Bangor    85  0  0 

Castlewellan   75  0  0 

Down    735  0  0 

Dromore    156  10  0 


4,832    0    0 


Carried  forward,        £5,142    1    0  £554.448  19    3 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  89 

£        s.  d.       £  s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  5,142     1  0   554,448  19    3 

Down — (contd.) 

Hilltown    137    0  0 

Kilkeel  77    0  0 

Laurencetown  3,210    0  0 

Mourne  Abbey  120    0  0 

Newry 3,827    4  0 

Warrenpoint   789  10  0 

13,302  15    0 

Dublin — 

Dublin 53,906    5  4 

Lusk 143  10  0 

.Rush 161     0  0 

Skerries  460  10  0 

Swords 253    8  0 

Tallaght   66    0  0 

54,990  13    4 

Fermanagh — 

Belcoo 50    0  0 

Enniskillen 26    0  0 

Newtownbutler 155    0  0 

Tempo   85    0  0 

316    0    0 

Galway — 

Annaghdown 50    0  0 

Ardrahan 45    0  0 

Athenry  615  10  0 

Caherlistrane 160    0  0 

Carna 70    0  0 

Cashel  181    0  0 

Castlegar  119    0  0 

Clarenbridge 24    0  0 

Clifden  749  15  0 

Clonbur 68    0  0 


Carried  forward,        £2,082    5    0  £623,058    7    7 


90 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


£  s.  d.       £          s.  i1. 

Brought  forward,  £2,082  5  0   623,058    7    7 
Galway —  ( con^d. ) 

Craughwell   197  0  0 

Dunmore 16  0  0 

Galway  1,880  15  0 

Galway  County,  general 1,118  0  0 

Glenamaddy   134  10  0 

Headford 265  0  0 

Innisboffiln 300  0  0 

Kilbecanty  25  0  0 

Killeenadeema 94  0  0 

Kinvara   64  0  0 

Leenane  79  0  0 

Lettermore 95  0  0 

Lettermullen 100  0  0 

Loughrea 923  5  0 

Maam 100  0  0 

Mountbellew 16  0  0 

Moycullen  328  10  0 

Moylough    64  0  0 

Oranmore    511  0  0 

Portumna    25  0  0 

Recess 170  0  0 

Rossmuck        500  0  0 

Roundstone  210  0  0 

Shrule  140  0  0 

Spiddal   238  0  0 

Tuam    2,734  0  0 

Kerry — 

Abbeydorney   30  0  0 

Annascaul    105  0  0 

Ardfert    346  5  0 

Ballybunion    1,313  0  0 

Ballydavid   147  11  0 

Ballyferriter   467  0  0 

Ballyheigue   135  0  0 


12,410    5    0 


Carried  forward,    £2,543  16    0  £635,468  12    7 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  91 

£        s.  d.       £          s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  2,543  16  0  635,468  12    7 

Kerry — (contd.) 

Ballylongford  634    0  0 

BallymacelHgott    741     5  0 

Cahirciveen    155     0  0 

Camp    259    0  0 

Castlegregory    807  15  0 

Castleisland  1,116    0  0 

Castlemaine    413    0  0 

Causeway   80    0  0 

Dingle 1,709    2  0 

Duagh  289  10  0 

Fenit   138    0  0 

Firies    291   10  0 

Fossa 511     0  0 

Glenbeigh    472  10  0 

Glenflesk    1,222  15  0 

Kenmare   975    0  0 

Kerry  County,  general 653  15  0 

Kilgarvan 293     0  0 

Killarney    1,635     0  0 

Killeentierna   530  10  0 

Kilmorna   74    0  0 

Killorglin   742  15  0 

Killury    5U    '5  0 

Knocknagoshel   90    0  0 

Listowel    2,102    0  0 

Lixnaw  680    0  0 

Milltown    335    0  0 

Newtownsandes 199    0  0 

Rathmore    743  12  0 

Tralee   3,901     5  0 

Tuosist    378  10  0 

Ventry    650    0  0 

25,878  15  ■  0 


Carried  forward,  £661,347    7    7 


92 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


2,765    9    0 


£        s.  d.       £          s.  d. 
Brought  forward,                             661,347    7    7 

KiLDARE — 

Allen 79    9  0 

Athy  125  15  0 

Ballymore  Eustace  230    0  0 

Carbury  100    0  0 

Clane    35    0  0 

Kilcock  177    5  0 

Kildare   540    5  0 

Kill    270  10  0 

Naas    275    5  0 

Newbridge    736  15  0 

Rathangan   34    5  0 

Suncroft   161     0  0 

Kilkenny — 

Graiguenamanagh    12  10  0 

Kilkenny    696  10  0 

Piltown 20    0  0 

King's  County — 

Ballycumber 70    0  0 

Banagher    174    0  0 

Birr   365  10  0 

Cloghan  276    0  0 

Edenderry   192  10  0 

Fenbane    258    0  0 

Killeagh    5     5  0- 

King's  County,  general 265  15  0 

Kinnitty   9    0  0 

Philipstown  186    0  0 

Rhode   292    0  0 

Tullamore  2,154  10  0 

4,248  10    0 


729    0    0 


Carried  forward. 


£669,090    6    7 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


93 


s.    d.       £  s.  d. 

669,090    6    7 


,  Brought  forward, 
Leitrim — 

Aughawilliam   147  10  0 

Ballinamore  322  10  0 

Carrick-on-Shannon    302  10  0 

Carrigallen 135    0  0 

Cloone   126    0  0 

Dromard   99    0  0 

Drumkeerin 223  10  0 

Drumshambo    250    0  0 

Drumsna   49  10  0 

Glenfarne   130  10  0 

Killeenummery 41     0  0 

Kiltoghert  452    0  0 

Leitrim    353    0  0 

Leitrim  County,  general 110    0  0 

Manorhamilton    108    0  0 

Ruskey   103    0  0 

Tullaghan    90    0  0 

Limerick — 

Abbeyfeale 

Ballingarry    

Ballybricken  

Ballylanders   

Cahirconlish 

Drumcollogher   

Granagh   

Herbertstown 

Kilmallock 

Knocklong  

Limerick^  

Mountcollins  

Newcastlewest  

O'Brien's  Bridge 

O'Callaghan's  Mills 

Oola   


Carried  forward,    £8,958  13    4  £672,133    6    7 


298  10 

130  0 

25  0 

-   3.043  0  0 

0 
0 
0 

686  10 

0 

100  0 

0 

146  0 

0 

25  0 

0 

1,119  17 

0 

266  0 
35  0 

0 
0 

5,572  6 
70  0 

4 
0 

259  10 

0 

10  0 

0 

100  0 

0 

115  0 

0 

94  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 

£        s.  d.       £          s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  8,958  13  4   672,133    6    7 
Limerick — (contd.) 

Pallasgreen  57    0  0 

Rathkeale    194    0  0 

Shanagolden  562    0  0 

Tournafulla   290    0  0 

10,061  13    4 

Longford — 

Abbeylara    45     0  0 

Aughnacliffe 294    0  0 

Ballinamuck    135    0  0 

Ballymahon   113    0  0 

Clonbroney    1,581     5  0 

Clonguish  63    0  0 

Drumlish    15     0  0 

Granard  465    0  0 

Killoe    170    0  0 

Lanesboro'    314  18  3 

Legan   74    0  0 

Longford 1,256  17  1 

Newtownforbes   147    0  0 

Whitehall 185    0  0 

4,859    0    4 

Louth — 

Ardee  66    0  0 

Carlingf ord  44    0  0 

Carrickmullen   19  10  0 

Castlering    6    Q  0 

Collon   66    0  0 

Drogheda    1,189  15  0 

Dundalk   1,849    5  0 

Dunleer    126    0  0 

Louth  County,  general 56    0  0 

3,422  10    0 

Mayo — 

Achill    196  10  0 

Aghamore    91     0  0 

Carried  forward,  £287  10  0X690,476  10    3 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  95 

£        s.  d.        <£          s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  287  10  0   690,476  10    3 

Mayo — (contd.) 

Aghagower  158    0  0 

Ballina  754  10  0 

Ballindine   45    0  0 

Ballinrobe  498    0  0 

Ballyhaunis    235     0  0 

Bangor 20    0  0 

Belmullet   87  10  0 

Carracastle    88    0  0 

Castlebar 495  10  0 

Charleston 65     0  0 

Claremorris    127  10  0 

Cong   711   10  0 

Cross  Cong 23  10  0 

CrossmoHna   102    4  9 

Foxford    237    0  0 

Glenhest 45     0  0 

HoUymount    6     0  0 

Islandeady   251     0  0 

Kilkelly   200     5  0 

Kilmeena 645     0  0 

Kiltimagh 201  10  0 

Louisburgh  469    0  0 

Mayo   County,  general 153     0  0 

Mulrany   16    0  0 

Newport  244    0  0 

Parteen 6  10  0 

Swinford   354  10  0 

Tourmakeady    341  12  0 

Westport 2,200  13  5 

• 9,069  15     2 

Meath — 

Bohermeen    70    0  0 

Dunshaughlin   105     0  0 

Kells 195    0  0 

Kilskyre    20    0  0 


Carried  forward,       £390    0    0  £699,546     5     5 


96 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


1,713     1    0 


2,655  18    0 


£        s.  d.       £         s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  390    0  0   699,546    5     5 

Meath —  ( contd. ) 

Meath  County,  general 635     1  0 

Navan  411     0  0 

Trim  277    0  0 

MONAGHAN 

Ballybay  129  10  0 

Carrickmacross 237  10  0 

Castleblayney 130    0  0 

Clones  462  10  0 

Kilglass    78  10  0 

Monaghan    1,026  10  0 

Roslea  125  18  0 

Tydavnet    465  10  0 

Queen's  County — 

Ballinakill    20    0  0 

Ballybrophy    9    0  0 

Borris-in-Ossory 177    0  0 

Clonaslee 60    0  0 

Mountmellick 624     5  0 

Mountrath 118    0  0 

Portarlington   204     5  0 

Rathdowney    235  10  0 

Stradbally 116    0  0 

Roscommon — 

Ballaghadereen  267  15  0 

Ballinalough  59    0  0 

Ballintubber   399    0  0 

Ballyfarnon   325  15  0 

Boyle 349  15  0 

Castlerea   766    0  0 


1,564    0    0 


Carried  forward,    £2,167    5    0  £705,479    4    5 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  97 

£        s.  d.        £  s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  2,167    5  0   705,479    4    5 
Roscommon — (contd.) 

Elphin 387    0  0 

Kilcorkey  301  10  0 

Kilkeevin    396  10  0 

Knockcroghery 716    0  0 

Loughglynn  827     5  0 

Mantua 121     0  0 

Roscommon 1,519    0  0 

Strokestown   787    0  0 

7,222  10    0 

Sligo — 

Ballymote   789    0  0 

Easkey    16    0  0 

Enniscrone 52     5  0 

Gurteen 272    0  0 

Sligo  County,  general 2,234    0  0 

Tubbercurry 493  10  0 

3,856  15    0 

TiPPERARY — 

Annacarty  155     0  0 

Ardfinan  10    0  0 

Ballina  54    0  0 

Ballinahinch   15     0  0 

BalHngarry  137     5  0 

Ballybeg 4    0  0 

Bansha 327    0  0 

Boherlahan   344  10  0 

Cahir  327  10  0 

Cappawhite 140    0  0 

Cashel  859    5  0 

Clogheen   47     5  0 

Clonmel  482    0  0 

Clonoulty  77    0  0 

Cloughjordan  225     0  0 

Carried  forward,  £3,204  15  0  £716,558    9    5 


98 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


£        s.  d.        £  s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  3,204  15  0   716,558 "  9    5 
TiPPERARY —  (  contd. ) 

Donaskeigh    50    0  0 

Donohill   229    5  0 

Dundrum 50    0  0 

Emly  148  10  0 

Fethard 215    0  0 

Golden  57  10  0 

Goold's  Cross   208    0  0 

Kilcommon    100    0  0 

Knocknavilla 464     5  0 

Mullinahone   99    0  0 

Nenagh  1,514  14  0 

Newport 418    0  0 

Portroe,  Nenagh 170    0  0 

Rossmore    112    0  0 

Templemore   436    7  6 

Thurles 1,282  15  0 

Tipperary   2,337    7  6 

Tyrone — 

Aughnacloy 108    0  0 

BalHnaderrig  25     0  0 

Coalisland  30    0  0 

Cookstown    45     0  0 

Clogher   48    4  0 

Dunamore 50    0  0 

Dungannon 437  10  0 

Moy 25     0  0 

Omagh 114  10  0 

Sion  Mills   10     0  0 

Strabane 297  15  0 

Waterford — 

Aglish    286  15  0 

Ardmore  and  Grange 643     5  0 

Clashmore 237  15  0 


11,097    9    0 


1,190  19    0 


Carried  forward,  £1,167  15    0  £728,846  17    5 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


99 


3,519  19    0 


£        s.  d.        £          s.  d. 

Brought  forward,  1,167  15  0   728,846  17    5 
Waterford —  (contd.) 

Dungarvan 870    4  0 

Dunmore  East   2    0  0 

Lismore  425  15  0 

Newtown   80  10  0 

Old  Parish  and  Ring 340  10  0 

Stradbally 54    0  0 

Tallow 250    0  0 

Waterford    329    5  0 

Westmeath — 

Athlone   1,632    9  2 

Castlepollard  177    0  0 

Curraghboy  314    0  0 

Dangan  7    0  0 

Fore   288    0  0 

Glasson 85    0  0 

Kilbeggan    336  10  0 

Moate 297    0  0 

Mullingar  713  10  0 

Newtown,  Moate 875    0  0 

Rochfortbridge   210    5  0 

Tang 57    0  0 

Tubberclair 14    0  0 

Westmeath  County,  general 330    5  0 


5,336  19    2 


Wexford — 

Adamstown   20    0  0 

Ballycullane   98  10  0 

Ballygarrett  and  Riverchapel 79    0  0 

Bally  William  37    0  0 

Camolin 8    0  0 

Camross 39  10  0 


Carried  forward,       £282    0    0  £737,703  15    7 


100 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


Brought  forward, 

Wexford— (contd.) 

Enniscorthy 

Ferns 

Gorey  

Kiltealy 

New  Ross 

Oylegate 

Wexford  

WiCKLOW — 

Arklow 

Bray  

Glendalough  

Rathdrum 

Wicklow  County,  general 


£        s.    d.        £  s.  d. 

282    0    0   737,703  15    7 


972    0  0 

209  10  0 

865  10  0 

20    0  0 

45    0  0 

26    8  0 

895    0  0 


321    0    0 

347    0    0 

7  10    0 

10    0    0 

4S2  11  10 


3,315    8    0 


Relief  distributed  through  Irish  Republican  Prison- 
ers' Dependents'  Fund  and  other  Societies 


1,168     1  10 
742,187    5    5 


46,028    9    0 


£788,215  14    5 


IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT  101 

APPENDIX    E. 


IRISH   WHITE    CROSS   SOCIETY. 


Reconstruction  Commission. — Geographical  Distribution  of 
Amounts  Sanctioned  to  31st  August,  1922. 


£ 

Antrim 1,850 

Carlow  500 

Cavan 1 ,500 

Clare 27,500 

Cork 47,090 

Donegal 2,175 

Down  2,200 

Dublin    9,810 

Fermanagh 465 

Galway   18,345 

Kerry 43,625 

Kildare 600 

Kilkenny   500 

Leitrim   2,180 

Limerick 9,510 

Longford 2,700 

Louth 1,450 

Mayo 4,390 

Meath 1,100 

Roscommon  9,075 

Sligo 9,300 

Tipperary 36,431 

Tyrone 750 

Waterford 1.275 

Westmeath   4,692 

Wexford    4,050 


s. 

d. 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

£243,063    0    0 


We  certify  that  the  foregoing  figures  have  been  extracted  by 
us  from  the  books  of  the  Irish  White  Cross  Society,  and  that  they 
are  correct. 

D.  O'CONNOR  &  CO., 
Chartered  Accountants, 
Auditors. 
13  Westmoreland  Street, 
Dublin,  20th  October,  1922. 


102  IRISH  WHITE  CROSS  REPORT 


APPENDIX  F. 


IRISH   WHITE    CROSS   SOCIETY. 

Committee  for  Maintenance  of  Orphans. 


James  H.  Webb,  Chairman. 
Madam  O 'Rah  illy, 
John  O'Neill, 
Sean  Nunan, 
Alderman  Mrs.  Clarke, 
Mrs.  Scott,  Cork. 


.  Hon.  Treasurers. 


Secretary — Mrs.  Ceannt. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 
Renewals  maf  be  made  4  days  prior  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subjea  to  immediate  recall. 


!'/lAY  ■.  G^9/3  54 


!!£C'0  LD 


APR  1  4  2001 


LD21A-20m-3,'73  n^i^^Z^lFrllfflr^i,. 

(Q86778l0)476-A-31  ^'"''*'"g^,^^ei^^^°""» 


535S38 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


